Year The Second
by Pied Flycatcher
Summary: Cloud is in his second year at Hogwarts. When a mysterious monster threatens the school, new relationships are formed and friendships are strained as the students search for the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. AU. Complete!
1. Make a Wish, Cloud!

**(A/N: So, I admit it. I'm one of those people who felt the urge to stick the FFVII cast into Hogwarts. In fact, I've already done it once. This story is a sequel. The first story, 'Year the First', took place during Philosopher's Stone. This one follows straight after it. Cloud is now in his second year at Hogwarts, along with Tifa, Aerith, Vincent, Barret, Cid, Yuffie and the HP characters. This story charts Cloud's adventures through the events of Chamber of Secrets. And no, this isn't one of those fanfictions that repeats a Harry Potter story word for word, with different names thrown in. I hate that. **

**I think this can be read as a standalone story if you're familiar with the Harry Potter series. Some of the events of 'Year the First' are recapped in the first chapter. But if you like what you read here, then please do check out 'Year the First'. It's easy to find: just click on my profile and it's listed under my stories. Self-pimping over, I hope that newcomers and returning readers alike will enjoy. :)**

**Basically, this is crossover crack, so it doesn't take itself too seriously. What I've tried to go for is a light-hearted, charming tale that's fun to read. I'll let readers judge whether I've succeeded or not...**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and FFVII are copyrighted to JK Rowling and Square-enix respectively. I'm not making any money by writing about their characters. To save myself from writing this out again and again, this disclaimer covers the whole story. Right. Okay, so on we go!)**

Dawn streamed through the open window, its soft rays flowing along the wooden floor and pooling around the bed. A boy lay sprawled under the rough woollen covers, his spiky blond hair catching the sunlight and casting odd shadows on the white pillow, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open.

An owl flew to the window ledge. She roosted there for a few seconds, her talons firmly gripping the wooden ledge. Her liquid eyes rested on the boy, who had begun to stir.

The boy's eyes opened, revealing bright blue irises. His pupils contracted and he shielded his face from the sunlight.

"Ghost? Have you got something for me?"

The barn owl ruffled her wings. Attached to her leg was a small roll of parchment, bound with a pink ribbon.

Seeing this, the boy's eyes widened and he leapt out of bed with sudden energy. He grabbed the roll of parchment, tore it open and read through it quickly.

_Hiya Cloud!_

_Of course I'd love to come over for your birthday! It's been too quiet at home. I've missed everybody. I can't wait to see you!_

_Love Aerith. xxx_

Cloud stared at the signature dazedly. She had put 'Love Aerith'. What did that mean? Did girls usually do that, or had she said it because she was writing to him? He felt an odd tingly sensation in his fingers and had to put the letter down on his bedside table.

Ghost flew onto his bed and looked at him expectantly. He stroked her soft feathers.

"It's all right; I haven't got another letter for you. Come on." He held out his arm and she jumped onto it.

He went downstairs to find his mother already in the kitchen. He'd never managed to be up before her.

Cloud's mother glared at him. "How many times have I told you not to let that owl into your bedroom? Look at you, you're not even dressed."

The stone floor made his bare feet cold. "Sorry, Mum. It's just I got a message from Aerith. She says she's coming."

His mother beamed, all trace of anger vanishing at once. "That's great, Cloud! Sorry I snapped at you; you know what I'm like early in the morning."

He shrugged. "That's okay. I'll go and get dressed." He set Ghost down on the kitchen chair.

"No, wait a minute, Cloud." She walked over to him and gave him a bone-crushing hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Mum," he gasped.

She wagged a finger at him. "Now you can get dressed. I want you to help me get this place spick and span before your friends arrive."

He groaned. She had to pick his birthday to be house proud. All summer she had let him be a slob, but as soon as she caught even a whiff of visitors, he had to wash and clean and generally scrub up.

Today was the nineteenth of August. His birthday. Finally, he was twelve years old. He hated being one of the youngest in his year. Still, at least it was usually hot and sunny when he celebrated his birthday.

He changed into his cleanest T-shirt and shorts, and carefully rearranged his spiky hair. Today, he wanted everything to be perfect.

**xxxxx**

"Oh, someone's coming," his mother said.

Green flames shot up in the fireplace. A spinning figure appeared within it and then toppled out.

"Ugh!" said the figure. "It's been a while since I travelled by Floo Powder. I feel all dizzy..."

"Here, let me help you," said Cloud. He dashed over to the fireplace and held out his hand. Aerith grasped it gratefully and he pulled her up.

"Phew!" She brushed a few stray bits of ash from her pink dress. Bangles jangled on her wrists. Her hair was down for once, spilling in brown waves over her shoulders and down her back.

"You must be Aerith," said Cloud's mother, coming over to greet the girl. "Welcome, welcome."

"Thanks, Mrs Strife," said Aerith. "It's nice to be here. So, am I the first arrival?"

Cloud nodded.

"Would you like a drink? Tea? Coffee? Sparkling water?" his mother asked, ever the gracious hostess.

"Sparkling water sounds great," said Aerith. "Thanks."

She and Cloud sat down at the table while his mother poured them drinks.

"Happy birthday, Cloud! I've got a present for you." Aerith produced a box wrapped in silver paper. "I hope you like it."

Cloud reached over to take the gift but she snatched it away. "Hey..."

"You can open it when everyone gets here," said Aerith.

A tapping sound alerted them both. Cloud's mother smiled and went over to the door.

"Hello, Mrs Strife," said Tifa timidly. "Is Cloud...?"

"Come in, come in! You know you're always welcome, Tifa. Would you like some sparkling water too?"

"Yes, please." The girl smiled as she saw her two friends beaming at her.

"Happy birthday, Cloud." Tifa was wearing a turquoise summer dress. It danced around her knees as she walked to the table and joined them. She wore a white Alice band in her long hair.

"Thanks, Tifa." Cloud smiled at her awkwardly.

"I'm just popping out for a few minutes," Cloud's mother said, giving Tifa her drink. "You kids behave, okay?" She left.

"Tifa!" squealed Aerith. "I haven't seen you for ages!" The two girls hugged. "That's a pretty dress you're wearing. Is it cotton?"

"Yeah," said Tifa. "You look really pretty with your hair down, Aerith. You should have it like that more often."

"Thanks. Maybe I will. Cloud, what do you think? Do I look better with my hair up or down?"

Cloud was flustered. "Er... I..."

Aerith was giving him that teasing look again.

"Never mind," said Tifa quickly. "I'm sure it doesn't matter to Cloud."

He scratched his head.

"That's right!" said Aerith. "The important thing is that it's your birthday, Cloud." She held her hand to her mouth as though she was performing a mock interview. "So, how does it feel to be twelve at last, Cloud?"

"All right, I guess."

Tifa laughed. "Cloud, tell us about the events of last year. Your fans say you had quite a busy time at Hogwarts."

"Fans?" Cloud looked puzzled.

"Play along, silly!" Aerith whispered to him. She spoke up. "Is it true, Cloud, that last year you embarked on a quest to find the Stolen Materia?"

"Oh... er, yeah!"

"And that you discovered that the afore-mentioned Stolen Materia was in fact stolen by a lying, scheming, and manipulative thief known only as Yuffie?"

"Yeah."

"Yuffie, the sneaky Slytherin!"

"And," Tifa put in, "Yuffie wasn't the only Slytherin you had trouble with, was she?"

"No," Cloud growled. "There was Draco Malfoy too."

"Ah, yes, dear Draco!" Aerith stood up, smoothed back her hair, and mimicked Draco strutting around the kitchen. "Draco Malfoy, so full of himself it's amazing he needs to eat at all. Yes, look at me; I'm Draco, the pureblood king! I live in a huuuuge mansion with the slimiest snob of a father you've ever seen and I think I'm better than everyone else just because I'm rich and pureblood."

"He's also an arrogant bastard," Cloud added.

"But we got the better of him," Tifa said.

"Because Cloud concocted an ingenious plan to take out Draco and take back the Materia in one fell swoop!" said Aerith.

"Well, it wasn't really my idea," said Cloud. "You all helped..."

"So modest, our Cloud," Aerith giggled. "No wonder all his fans love him so!"

"Ah... ha..." said Cloud, feeling embarrassed and flattered at the same time. "What fans?"

"We'll be your fans!" said Aerith. She made an exaggerated curtsey. "Oh, Cloud, our lord and saviour, whose birthday it is today..."

Tifa grinned. "People all over the world rejoice..."

"...And we will ever be at your feet," said Aerith. "There can be no other hero for us... not even Johnny."

Tifa blushed. "You know I don't like Johnny that way. He's the one with a crush on me!"

Aerith grinned mischievously. "And may it ever be so!"

"Ah... okay... stop now," said Cloud, who felt so hot he thought steam might come out of his ears, like that time he had taken Pepper-up Potion.

Aerith pinched his cheek and then kissed it. "All right then, Cloud, I promise never to worship you ever again!"

Cloud rubbed his cheek, slightly dazed, but Aerith had already darted back into her seat, laughing and gazing at him with those soft emerald eyes.

Tifa folded her arms and frowned. She opened her mouth to speak, but then bit her lip.

"Hey, look," said Cloud, glad that a distraction in the form of Vincent spinning in the fire had appeared.

Vincent stepped out of the fireplace and brushed ash off his sleeves. His black hair had grown slightly over the summer, and he now looked at them with inscrutable shadowed eyes.

"Happy birthday, Cloud," he murmured. "I'm glad to be here."

"Vincey!" said Aerith.

"I'd appreciate it if you called me by my given name, which is Vincent," the boy said. He was pale as ever, dressed in dark heavy robes completely inappropriate for such a hot summer's day.

"Gosh, Vincent," said Aerith, voicing Cloud's thoughts, "have you been sleeping in a coffin all this time? It's summer outside, you know."

Vincent shrugged. "I prefer to stay indoors, where it's cool. Summer isn't my favourite season."

"I swear you're a closet vampire," Aerith laughed.

"I still find it hard to believe that real vampires exist," said Tifa. "When Professor Quirrell told us about them, I was really shocked."

"Oh, they're not so bad, vampires," said Vincent. "My father has dealings with them. I met one once."

"Really?" said Tifa, her eyes wide. "Come on, tell us!"

Vincent raised his eyebrows. "I thought we were supposed to be celebrating Cloud's birthday? I've brought a gift for you." He pulled a present out of the folds of his robes.

"Present-opening time!" sang Aerith. "Which will you open first, Cloud?"

Cloud selected Aerith's little silver box first. But the presents themselves didn't mean much to him. He couldn't express how happy he felt just to have the three of them there, supporting him and having fun. Talking, laughing... just being there. Being friends.

Aerith's present was an exquisite little photo album, bound in leather. It came with a potion bottle for treating photographs.

"That's nice," said Cloud, "but I don't own a camera..."

Aerith winked at him. "No need to worry about that. Wait and see."

It immediately became clear what she was getting at when Cloud opened Tifa's present – it was a silver camera. Cloud looked at it, intrigued. He didn't often come across Muggle-designed gadgets.

"Aerith and I decided on your present together," said Tifa. "We wanted you to preserve all your happy memories. You can take pictures of all your friends and family and put them in the album."

"I would have bought you the camera too," said Aerith, "but I don't know much about Muggle shops."

"And I didn't know that there was a special potion to make the pictures move," said Tifa, "so Aerith got that."

The two girls beamed at him.

"Thanks, both of you," said Cloud. He searched around for the right words. "It's wonderful that you were both so thoughtful like that..."

Their smiles widened.

"Now for Vincent's present..."

Vincent pushed the small gift, wrapped in black cloth, over to Cloud. He unwrapped it curiously. A silver chain fell out. He picked it up and held it up to the air. A white fang glinted on the end of the chain.

"It's a werewolf tooth," said Vincent. "Charmed to protect you against Dark creatures."

"Thanks," said Cloud, not sure what else to say. The object certainly contained magic; he could sense it. Trust Vincent to give him something like that.

"When do you think Cloud's going to be attacked by Dark creatures?" Aerith asked, half-curiously, half-teasingly.

"It's always wise to be prepared. I believe there may be monstrous creatures lurking inside Hogwarts. Last year, for instance, there was a three-headed dog on the third floor..."

"A _what_ on the third floor?" Aerith gasped.

"You're kidding, aren't you?" Tifa said at the same time.

"I saw it," said Vincent. "I was curious to know what waited in the forbidden corridor."

"Have you seen it too?" Aerith asked, noticing Cloud's expression.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"You never said!"

"Well... it's not that important. It's in the past now anyway." Cloud slipped the chain over his head. He thought he must look pretty cool, with a fang dangling over his chest.

"So... what are we going to do?" asked Tifa.

"We're going to sing happy birthday to Cloud!" said a woman's voice. Cloud's mother had just got back, and she was carrying an enormous cake. She placed it on the table and lit the twelve candles with her wand.

"Ready?"

"Make a wish, Cloud!" Aerith whispered, before his friends burst into the 'Happy birthday' chorus.

He stared at the flickering candles. What could he wish for? I know, he thought. I want to stay friends with Aerith and Tifa and Vincent. I wish for long, happy friendships. What more could he want?

**(Next chapter... Tifa brings along a new friend and the students meet their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher...)**


	2. Harry Potter is so Amazing

**(A/N: I think JK Rowling must have enjoyed writing Professor Lockhart. He's a great character. We don't get to see the journey on the Hogwarts train in the book, so this is my take on what happened.)**

The platform was crowded and the train was obscuring it further with clouds of steam. Cloud's eyes darted around anxiously. Students were already beginning to board the train. Where was Tifa?

He caught sight of her dodging past some Slytherin seventh-years, and smiled. Tifa hauled her trolley along with one arm, huffing and puffing. Nestled in her other arm was a small, squirming fluffy white creature.

Ghost let out a soft squawk in her cage as Tifa approached.

"Hi, Cloud," she gasped. "Oh – look, the train's about to leave. We'd better get on."

"Let me help you," he said. "What's that you're holding?"

He held a hand out to the creature and it hissed and spat.

"He's a little shy," said Tifa. "Let me handle him."

They boarded the train and found an empty compartment. Tifa held the little white animal on her lap and stroked it.

"A new pet?"

"This is my kitten, Moggy," said Tifa. "Isn't he sweet?"

The kitten was certainly cute, he had to admit that. It had big blue eyes and large paws and alert triangular ears. But the thing was restless; it kept squirming about as though it didn't like being made to stay in one place. He bent closer to the kitten, wondering if it would scratch him, and the kitten stared at him.

"He has your eyes," said Tifa, smiling.

The compartment door banged open and a small red-haired girl burst in.

"Have you seen my brother?"

Tifa looked slightly annoyed at the interruption, but she said, "I don't know, who's your brother?"

"His name's Ron Weasley, he's got red hair and he's quite tall..."

"I know him," said Cloud. "We're in the same year. No, I haven't seen him. Why?"

The girl clenched her fists and tossed her hair, her expression both angry and worried. "We don't know where he is! He was with Harry Potter and neither of them turned up at the platform. We waited and waited but..."

"Harry and Ron? They're both missing?" said Cloud.

She nodded. "I've been searching the train just in case they sneaked on without telling us. Well, if you see my brother, tell him to find me."

She began to storm out of the compartment, but banged into Aerith, who was just about to enter.

"Hey!"

The red-haired girl shoved past her, and Aerith put her hands on her hips.

"Who was _that_?"

"Ron's sister," said Cloud.

"Hmph. She doesn't have any manners."

"Don't worry about it," said Tifa soothingly. "She was stressed out, that's all."

Aerith sat down next to Cloud and smoothed her dress. Then she noticed the kitten. "Oh!" she squealed. "He's adorable!"

"He's called Moggy." Tifa held out the squirming kitten and Aerith patted its fluffy head. The kitten swiped its paw at her.

"I wonder what happened to Harry and Ron," Cloud wondered out loud.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," said Tifa. "What I'm wondering is, where's Vincent?"

"He's probably moping in a compartment by himself," said Aerith. "He likes to do that sometimes."

"Does he?" said Cloud.

"He's all right when he's with us, but he needs his privacy too," Tifa explained.

"I call it his vampire time," said Aerith, smirking.

They laughed. Just then, the trolley witch came round. They bought a heap of sweets and swapped Chocolate Frog cards. They were just about to start a game of Gobstones when two people entered the compartment.

One was a rather disgruntled-looking Vincent. He had been ushered in by an older man with wavy blond hair, very blue eyes and a gleaming smile.

Cloud looked away, blinded by the radiance of those teeth. When he glanced back, he noticed that the smiling man had his hand on Vincent's shoulder. Vincent shrugged him off contemptuously and sat down next to Aerith.

"So, these are your friends, Vincent!" the man said.

Aerith gazed at the man with misty eyes. "Are you... Gilderoy Lockhart?"

The man beamed. Cloud hadn't thought it was possible for his smile to get any wider, but it certainly did. "That's right!" he said. "Gilderoy Lockhart, famous for defeating various Dark creatures and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award! Are you one of my young fans, my dear?"

Aerith jumped up. "Can I have your autograph, Mr Lockhart, please?"

"Certainly!"

Cloud watched, bemused, as a giggling pink-faced Aerith waited for Lockhart to sign a colour photograph of himself with a large blue-feathered quill – both of which he had pulled out of his robes as though he'd been expecting legions of fans to accost him. Tifa was watching the scene, looking puzzled too, and Vincent was glaring at both Aerith and Lockhart with a look of utter disgust upon his face.

Lockhart finished scrawling an enormous and elaborate signature and said, "I was just telling young Vincent here about how I helped his father out of a tight spot a few years ago. But I'm sure you've already read all about that in _Voyages with Vampires_."

"Vincent's father?" said Aerith. "Which chapter is that?"

"Chapter fifteen, _One Man and his Coffin_. One of my more daring exploits, I can tell you, the vampire Pierre is the most bloodthirsty demon I've ever met..."

"He was only thirteen years old!" said Vincent.

Lockhart waggled his finger at him. "Age means very little, Vincent, as I'm sure you know."

"After all, Harry Potter defeated You Know Who when he was just a baby," Aerith put in.

Lockhart smiled toothily at her. "Exactly, young lady! Now I must be off, I have a queue of fans waiting for me stretching half the train! Do come to my compartment, where you can buy signed copies of my new autobiography, _Magical Me_." With a final dazzling smile, he nodded at them and left.

"Who... was that?" asked Tifa.

Vincent leaned back in his seat, folded his arms and scowled. Cloud was speechless.

"Gilderoy Lockhart," Aerith answered. "He's amazing; he wrote all the books on our Defence Against the Dark Arts list. Have you looked at them? You should read what he's done!"

"Oh... I thought his name sounded familiar." Tifa put Moggy down for a moment and pulled some books out of her bag. She flicked through _Year with a Yeti_, frowning.

"But what is he doing on the train?" Cloud asked.

Vincent snorted. "Isn't it obvious? I should have realised it when I saw the booklist. He's coming to teach."

Aerith squealed. "Wow, can you believe it?" She looked at everyone else, smiling. "What?"

"Well, you're right, it does look as though he's done some amazing things," said Tifa. "I hope he's a good teacher. Especially since we have the same name..."

"I thought you were related to him when I first met you," said Vincent. "I can't tell you how relieved I was when I realised you weren't."

"You don't like him then?"

"You've noticed."

"Ignore him, Tifa, he's just jealous," said Aerith.

Vincent gave her a disdainful look.

"Wait..." said Cloud slowly. "If he's so popular, how come he managed to get to this carriage and back without having a horde of students after him?"

"So you've noticed. Make up your own mind about that," said Vincent darkly.

**xxxxx**

After the feast, Cloud made his way up to the seventh floor alone. As he trod familiar corridors and climbed winding staircases, occasionally smiling in response to a welcome from a portrait, he realised how good it felt to be back at Hogwarts. The castle was like a second home.

He spoke the password ('Wattlebird') to the Fat Lady and entered the portrait hole. Nobody looked at him. He walked by a group of chattering first-years, remembering how terrified he had felt when he had been Sorted.

"Did you know that Harry Potter is in Gryffindor?" one of them said.

"I can't wait to see him!" said another, a small mousey-haired boy clutching a camera. "I want to take a picture of him!"

"Shall we wait for him to arrive?"

Cloud stopped and turned towards them. "He didn't turn up on the train," he informed the tiny boy.

To his chagrin, all the first-years smirked at each other knowingly.

"Haven't you heard?" piped up one.

"Heard what?"

"Harry Potter and one of his friends arrived here in a _flying car_."

The boy holding a camera grinned hugely. "Isn't it _awesome_? Harry Potter is so amazing. I can't wait to meet him."

"I can't believe you didn't know," said a first-year girl scornfully.

Cloud left them to it. He made his way up to the dormitory, which was the same one as last year. Barret and Cid, his fellow second-years, were busy settling in. Barret, who had grown even more hulking over the summer, was sorting out his socks, while Cid decorated the wall above his bed with posters of his local Quidditch team. The white-robed players rocketed around the pitch, occasionally coming in for a close-up so that a player's face filled the entire poster.

"S'up, Cloud?" said Barret. "Had a good summer?"

"Yeah, okay," said Cloud casually. He prayed that they had forgotten last year's nickname...

"Chocobo-head!" said Cid, crushing Cloud's hopes in an instant. "Welcome back! It's good to see ya."

Cid walked over to Cloud and ruffled his spikes, a grin splitting his warm, good-natured face. Cloud batted his hand away.

"You heard about Harry?" asked Barret.

"Yeah."

"The guy's crazy, I tell ya," said Cid. "Fighting trolls, running around after a piece o' rock, and now driving a flying car? Shit, what's he gonna do when he gets a license? He'd probably challenge You Know Who to a game of Quidditch." He chuckled. "My kinda guy."

"Hey, Cid." Barret jerked his head towards the door. "Look who it is..."

Cloud heard faint cheering emanating from the common room as Harry and Ron emerged in the dormitory. They were both red in the face; Ron, with his flaming hair, looked like a beetroot.

Cid ran forward to clap Harry on the back. "Good on ya, Harry!" he roared.

"Cool," Cloud agreed. Harry looked embarrassed to be the centre of attention again. Cloud couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. Harry hadn't asked to be famous, but he was. And he had proven himself by stopping He Who Must Not Be Named again last year. I'm nobody compared to him, Cloud thought. Nobody...

His high spirits upon returning to Hogwarts dampened slightly. It took him a while to get to sleep.

**xxxxx**

"Say cheese!"

They grinned cheesily. The camera flashed. Cloud blinked in shock.

"Can I take a picture now?" Tifa asked.

Aerith gave the camera to her and pulled Cloud to one side. They were in the Hogwarts grounds, just in front of a beech tree beside the lake. It was a pretty spot and, as Aerith said, ideal for taking photos.

"Go on, just Cloud and me this time." Aerith hung onto his arm. Cloud stood straight-backed, feeling a little awkward, like in all the previous shots.

"Relax, Cloud, you look like a poker!"

"Are you ready?" Tifa asked. Vincent moved beside her, to stay out of the shot. A warm September sun shone down on them, making Cloud squint.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he muttered, trying not to tense his muscles.

"Smile!"

Cloud worked his facial muscles in an attempt to smile. Next to him, Aerith was positively glowing. How did she do it?

The camera flashed.

"Great," said Tifa. "It's a pity we can't have one of all of us together. Maybe we should ask someone..."

Just then, Cloud noticed the small mousey-haired boy he had seen on the night of the feast. The boy's camera hung around his neck; he was gawping across the lake like a goldfish.

"Why don't we ask him?"

"Good idea," said Aerith. She walked over to the first-year and ushered him into the shadow of the beech tree.

"You want a group photo?" squeaked the boy. "Sure, if you like." He raised his camera.

"No, that's all right," said Aerith. "We have our own camera."

Tifa handed it to him. The four friends grouped together, Tifa and Aerith in front and Cloud and Vincent behind them.

"Isn't Hogwarts great?" the boy enthused. "All the portraits _move_, can you believe that?" He lifted the camera and started to focus.

"You know, you can make photos move too, if you have the right potion," said Cloud.

"_Really_? Wow! What potion?"

Cloud told him.

"You can order it from Diagon Alley," Aerith added helpfully.

The boy took the photo and gave the camera back to Cloud. "Wow, thanks! I can't wait! I'm gonna take pictures of everything to show my family!"

"Are they Muggles? Well, they'll really like that," Aerith smiled. "Thanks for taking the photo!"

"No problem." The boy skipped off, a look of rapture upon his face.

Tifa looked at her watch. "The bell's about to ring. We'd better go."

The three Ravenclaws went off to Transfiguration while Cloud made his way to the greenhouses for Herbology. The lesson was fairly interesting, if potting screaming Mandrakes was your thing. According to Hermione, and everyone knew Hermione knew everything, Mandrakes were used for restoring people who had been transfigured or cursed to their original state. Well, you definitely wouldn't want to plant them in your garden otherwise, thought Cloud. Those things were ugly.

Cloud then spent a difficult Transfiguration lesson trying to turn beetles into buttons. Still, at least he wasn't as bad as Ron. Ron's wand had almost snapped after he'd crashed the flying car into the Hogwarts grounds, and now it wasn't working properly. To make matters worse, that morning he had received a Howler from his mother. Painful.

But the lesson Cloud was really waiting for didn't come until after dinner: Defence Against the Dark Arts. He wondered what Lockhart would be like as a teacher.

The lesson started promisingly enough.

"It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind!" said Lockhart impressively.

Then Lockhart set a test, and as Cloud struggled to answer all fifty six questions, he wondered what on earth any of them had to do with the subject. How am I supposed to know Lockhart's favourite colour, he thought angrily. He looked back at the teacher, whose hair was set in perfect blond waves, his teeth gleaming, and his complexion perfect. He guessed pink.

The answer turned out to be lilac. Close enough, he thought. Vincent was right; this man is a complete and utter imbecile.

Then in the second half of the lesson their teacher set a gang of Cornish pixies on them.

"Come on now, round them up!" said Lockhart. He aimed his wand at one of the blue imps. "_Peskipiksi Pesternomi_!"

This spell had absolutely no effect; instead, the pixie seized Lockhart's wand and hurled it out of the window. Lockhart gulped.

Meanwhile, Cloud stared around him in panic. The pixies were completely trashing the place.

"_Incarcerous_!" he yelled. Thick ropes wrapped themselves around the nearest pixie, which had been hanging onto a bookshelf, and it fell off with a shrill squeal. Before he could do anything else, however, he felt two pixies seize him from behind and lift him up. He struggled madly, before they let him go and he crashed into a cupboard. He lifted his head, feeling dazed. A pixie hovered in front of him and blew a raspberry. He jabbed his wand at the offensive pixie.

"_Relashio_!"

The pixie fell back, stung by the shower of red sparks.

He looked around. Most of his other classmates, and Lockhart too, had fled. A few others remained, however, including Hermione, who incapacitated some of the pixies with a Freezing Charm and then had the grace to help him up.

"Thanks," he muttered. "Damn pixies..."

"They're here to help you learn," she scolded him.

"I don't care – I'm getting out of here."

**xxxxx**

He met Aerith, Tifa and Vincent in their usual spot in the library that evening.

"So you've just had Lockhart's first lesson?" Vincent asked.

Cloud nodded. He told them what had happened.

Vincent folded his arms. "Just as I thought."

"You think you've got it bad?" said Tifa. "People keep asking me if I'm related to him. It's so embarrassing."

"It was only the first lesson," said Aerith. "He might not be as bad as you think. How could he have defeated all those Dark creatures if he's not good at magic?"

"He probably blinded them all with his smile," Vincent muttered.

**(A/N: I'm pretty sure Tifa's white kitten is actually a canon character. I read about it somewhere. I think it appeared in Before Crisis. Anyway, as always, reviews are very much appreciated.**

**Next chapter... Life at Hogwarts suddenly takes a darker turn when the Chamber of Secrets is opened. A cat is lost and a kitten is found, but who is in the most danger from the mysterious monster?)**


	3. Now, Everything Would Change

**(A/N: Look out for another cameo this chapter. You may be seeing this new character again...)**

Everything was as normal as it had ever been at Hogwarts, until that night. It is said that magic is particularly strong on the night of Hallowe'en and that more Dark creatures appear.

They discovered it after the feast. Cloud followed a crowd of students and found his way blocked on the second floor. People were gasping and whispering. He pushed his way to the front and then immediately jumped back as his feet splashed in a puddle of cold water.

The water left a clear space in the hallway, and a torch on the wall illuminated the scene. Hanging from another torch bracket was the stiff, immobile form of Mrs Norris, Filch's beloved cat. But it wasn't the cat that Cloud's eyes were drawn to. The stone wall in front of him was no longer bare. Instead, words were written on it in red:

_The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware._

Cloud felt a chill which seemed to spread right from his wet toes to the tip of his spiky hair.

The Chamber of Secrets was open. Now, everything would change.

**xxxxx**

"But what is the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Tifa.

"You can read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_," Vincent informed her. "It was supposed to have been built by Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts."

"But nobody's ever found it," Aerith added. "Most people think it doesn't exist."

Cloud glanced at the window, not really listening. Outside, rain splattered over the cold stones of a dreary November day. They had chosen their usual seats in the library, and they weren't the only ones discussing recent events. Cloud peered back around his armchair; he could see a group of frightened-looking Hufflepuffs, a couple of first-year Ravenclaw students and a large gang of older Gryffindors, all talking intently. There weren't many people in the school who knew about the Chamber of Secrets, but they were all keen to find out. In his last History of Magic lesson, Hermione had actually put her hand up and asked Professor Binns directly about the Chamber.

"Only the true heir of Slytherin can enter the chamber," Vincent continued. "There's supposed to be some kind of monster in there which the heir of Slytherin can control."

"So now it's been opened, this monster is just wandering around the school?"

Vincent folded his arms. "Maybe."

"That's just great," said Tifa. "Are we supposed to just stay here and wait 'til it kills us all?"

"Let's not be negative," said Aerith. "The monster is controlled by the heir of Slytherin, remember. It's a... selective purge."

Tifa snorted.

"The monster is supposed to purge the school of all those who aren't worthy enough to study magic," said Vincent.

"Well, how do you know who's worthy and who isn't?" Tifa asked.

Vincent and Aerith looked at each other. Cloud started paying attention then. He could tell they didn't want to tell her. He swallowed.

Tifa regarded them all, a slight frown creasing her brow. "What? What is it?"

Finally, Cloud spoke in a hollow voice. "Slytherin wanted only purebloods to study magic. He didn't want to admit Muggle-borns to the school..."

"You mean... the monster is targeting Muggle-borns?"

"Probably," said Vincent quietly. "We don't know for sure. There might not be any more attacks. Besides, the cat wasn't killed, only Petrified."

"Oh, well, that makes it okay then!" said Tifa.

"Tifa... please don't worry," said Aerith. She laid her hand over her friend's arm.

"It's all very well for you," she replied. "You're all safe."

Aerith shrugged unhappily.

"I'll protect you," said Cloud. Tifa was in danger from this monster, so he would simply have to make sure she stayed out of harm's way. He wouldn't fail her again. But even as he made the promise, he wondered how he would keep it. How could you protect someone from an unknown enemy?

Tifa smiled at him. "Thanks. That makes me feel a bit better."

"If we all stick together, we should be all right," said Aerith.

The bell rang.

"We'd better go," Aerith added. The three Ravenclaws stood up. "See you, Cloud!"

Cloud caught Tifa's arm. "Wait, can I just talk to you for a minute?"

Tifa tucked her hair behind her ears, looking faintly surprised. "All right, then. I'll catch up to you!" she called to the others.

Cloud waited until Aerith and Vincent had gone.

"So... what is it?"

"I want you to have this." Cloud removed a silver chain from his neck. A white fang gleamed from the chain.

Tifa recognised it. "But that's the present Vincent gave you! I can't take it."

"You should have it. You need it more than I do." He pressed the necklace into her hand.

"Oh... Cloud..."

"It might protect you against the monster."

"Charmed against Dark creatures..." Tifa recalled. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, keep it." Cloud grinned. "Just don't tell Vincent that I gave away his present."

"Okay. Thanks, Cloud."

**xxxxx**

That Saturday, another Quidditch match took place: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Cloud watched with interest; Harry would be facing off against their enemy Draco Malfoy, for Malfoy had recently joined his house team as Seeker.

Cloud had been hoping that Harry would knock Malfoy off his broom, but as it turned out, Harry was the one who got injured. A Bludger chased after him the entire match.

Next to him, Cid frowned. "What the hell is that Bludger doin'? It shouldn't keep going after Harry like that!"

"Ain't Bludgers s'posed to hit as many players as they can?" Barret asked.

"Yeah, exactly. Someone's tampered with that thing!"

I bet it's Malfoy, Cloud thought. He's never been one to play fair.

Harry was doing well avoiding the Bludger right until the end of the match, when he caught the Snitch and the Bludger slammed straight into his arm. Cloud gasped with the rest of the crowd and watched anxiously as a group of teachers ran over to help the Gryffindor Seeker.

**xxxxx**

"That's... weird."

Harry lifted up his limp arm with his working one and grimaced. "I know... I've got to stay overnight to regrow all the bones."

Cloud stared at the arm again, which didn't resemble an arm so much as a pinkish rubber bat. "It was Lockhart's fault, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I didn't want that idiot fixing my broken arm, but he went ahead anyway and completely removed them."

Cloud shifted in his seat. There were a few things he wanted to ask Harry. Harry seemed to realise this because he smiled at Cloud and straightened up a little in the hospital bed.

"Something up?"

"I was wondering why that Bludger went after you. It really went crazy."

Harry attempted a shrug, but only managed to lift one shoulder. "Beats me."

"I think Malfoy might have done it."

"Malfoy?" Harry looked thoughtful. "Are you sure? What do you know about Malfoy?"

"It's just a guess. But it's the sort of thing Malfoy might do."

"Yeah, maybe. I reckon he's Slytherin's heir too."

"What – you think _he_ opened the Chamber of Secrets?" Cloud honestly hadn't considered this before. Malfoy was only a second-year after all; surely it would take someone more powerful to control the monster of Slytherin.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Harry's mouth was set in a determined line. "Don't tell anyone this, but we're going to sneak into the Slytherin common room. I bet Malfoy's bragging about being the heir of Slytherin in there."

"Well, you might find that difficult because Malfoy won't bring anyone from another House into his common room anymore."

Harry stared at him strangely. Cloud swallowed. Then, both realising that they had said too much, Cloud got up abruptly.

"Thanks for visiting me," said Harry.

"Yeah, hope you get better, and good luck with the Slytherin thing. Tell me when you find out, yeah?"

"Sure, mate."

Cloud left hurriedly.

**xxxxx**

The following morning, Cloud went down to breakfast to find the Great Hall buzzing with talk. It wasn't the usual friendly chatter, however; instead the atmosphere was tense, with a current of fear running like electricity through the air.

He squeezed in at the end of the Gryffindor table, cursing the fact that he had overslept. Even though it was a Sunday, he usually liked to rise early to make sure he didn't miss the best food.

He froze just as he had stretched his arm out to grab a jug of milk.

"...another attack... poor guy..."

"Nobody's safe, it could be any of us next time..."

"Fred Weasley told me that these Albanian amulets protect you from Petrification... d'you want me to ask him to get you one too? You'll have to cough up the Galleons first, cheapskate."

"Nah, don't be daft, a Soft Ring's what ya need... hey, Cloud, what is it?"

Cloud had just tapped Cid on the shoulder.

"Has there been another attack? Who was it?"

Cid munched the last of his toast and flicked away the crumbs before replying. "Yeah, surprised you ain't heard yet." He took a huge gulp from his goblet and smacked his lips. Cloud resisted the urge to punch him.

"Well, who is it? Tell me!"

"I dunno, can't remember the kid's name. Say, you wanna order a Soft Ring? I can get a discount for ya-"

"No, I want to know who's been attacked!"

"Don't think it's anyone you know," said Cid. He turned to Barret. "You know?"

"It was a Gryffindor first-year," Barret replied. "Colin Creevey. Got Petrified jus' like that scrawny cat."

Cloud sat back in relief. Nobody had died; his friends were all safe. But he knew that everyone was still in danger, and judging by all the talk about protective amulets and ribbons, the Gryffindors had realised it too. He finished his breakfast as quickly as possible and was about to leave when the post owls arrived, and he spotted Ghost among them.

The barn owl swooped down and almost knocked over his empty goblet. Cloud untied a letter from her leg and stroked her head. Ghost closed her eyes for a moment, and then took off silently.

He opened the letter. As he had suspected, it was from his mother. No doubt many Hogwarts students had received anxious letters from their parents.

_Dear Cloud,_

_I was just reading the _Daily Prophet_ and it said there was another attack! I'm so worried – are you all right? The _Prophet_ won't give any details about what's happening. I can't believe they're letting the school stay open when some monster or madman is attacking the students. Doesn't anybody have any idea who it is? You've got to write back to me at once and tell me everything you know. I want weekly letters from you so I know you're all right. And if these attacks get worse, I'm taking you home. Stay safe and write back._

_Mum xxx_

He sighed. That was just like his mother to be so overly protective. Didn't she think he could take care of himself? Obviously not. He could understand her fears, but there was no way he would be leaving Hogwarts. He couldn't leave Tifa and all the other students to face the monster by themselves.

He left the Great Hall and walked into the Entrance Hall, intending to go up to his dormitory and write back, but then he heard a voice behind him.

"Cloud! Hey, Cloud!"

It was Tifa. She hurried up to him and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Hi, Tifa. I was just going up to-"

"Can you help me? I've lost Moggy!"

It took Cloud a second to remember what she meant; he had barely seen the kitten since they arrived at Hogwarts, since Tifa usually confined it to Ravenclaw Tower.

"Your kitten? Where did it go?"

"You haven't seen him?"

"No, why would I?"

"Because he just ran over here, that's why! I had him with me at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast. He likes to eat the bacon. But then he slipped away from me." She looked around in frustration.

"You saw it go into the Entrance Hall?"

She nodded.

"Someone must have seen it. Let's ask."

They split up. Cloud cornered people coming up the marble staircase, while Tifa asked those milling about or heading into the grounds.

He approached a group of teenage boys nervously; they were all older and bigger than him. Only one of them deigned to turn around and listen to him; he was a cheerful-looking Gryffindor with spiky black hair.

"A white kitten? Yeah, I noticed one. Little thing dashed right by me up this staircase."

"Did you see where it went?"

"Left, I think." The boy grinned. "Aw, does the cute ickle kitty belong to you?"

"It's not mine. I'm just helping out a friend."

"Whatever you say, kid. Good luck with finding the kitty."

One of the other boys hit the Gryffindor. "Hey, are you listening?"

Cloud caught a glimpse of long silver hair and a sharp face darkened by a frown. He recognised the tall Slytherin, but he didn't wish to be recognised by him, so he muttered a quick thanks and hurried away.

Tifa brightened when he told her the kitten had been sighted and they made their way up the stairs together. The group of older boys had moved off. As they followed the corridor to the left, Cloud thought he saw a bundle of white fur leap behind a statue.

"There!"

"Moggy!" said Tifa. "Moggy, come here you naughty boy!"

Before they had got halfway down the corridor, the little cat emerged and scampered up a rickety old staircase. Cloud and Tifa quickened their pace. They emerged onto a corridor on the first floor, one Cloud knew well because the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was here.

Two Hufflepuff girls leaned against a wall, giggling.

"Hey, have you seen a white kitten?"

They nodded. "Yeah, it was so cute. We wanted it to stop so we could pet it, but it hissed at us."

"Where did he go?"

"Up the revolving staircase. We were just watching it; you should have seen it, chasing its tail and getting all dizzy."

The Hufflepuff girls continued to coo but Cloud and Tifa had already dashed up the spiral staircase.

"Moggy!"

The kitten paused on the second floor landing, where the red writing from that Hallowe'en night could still be seen on the wall. It mewed and turned aside, disappearing through a door.

They ran after it, but as they reached the door, Cloud suddenly jerked to a standstill and almost fell into the wall in his haste to stop.

"What's wrong, Cloud? Moggy went in here – look, the door's ajar."

"I can't go in there. It's a girl's bathroom."

Tifa looked at the sign on the door with some surprise. "So it is. I never used this bathroom before. Well, we've got him cornered now. Stay here and make sure he doesn't get out!"

Cloud did as she said and stationed himself outside the bathroom door like a guard. A couple of minutes later Tifa appeared with the struggling kitten in her arms. Moggy had grown since he last saw the cat; he was not the small ball of fluff he had once been, but a gangly, long-limbed young cat. Moggy snarled at the sight of him.

"Nice to know it's pleased to see me," he commented.

"He, Cloud, not it." Tifa stepped aside, and to Cloud's surprise, another girl followed her out of the bathroom. It was Ron Weasley's sister, a small girl with fiery hair, but right now she looked rather pale and downcast. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

"This is Ginny," said Tifa. "I found her crying in the bathroom... is something wrong, Ginny? You can tell Cloud and me."

Ginny sniffed. "No, I'm fine," she mumbled.

Cloud stared at her, feeling somewhat awkward. "I, er, need to go back to Gryffindor Tower. I've got a letter to write."

Tifa shot Cloud a look which plainly told him that he was being insensitive. He shrugged.

"Oh, fine," she said. "I'll look after Ginny."

Ginny's mouth trembled, but she lifted her chin defiantly. "I said I was fine."

"Great," Cloud said. "Everyone's fine, it's all fine. See you, then."

Tifa rolled her eyes at him. She took Ginny's arm and the smaller girl allowed her to start leading the way down the corridor. Cloud noticed something on the back of Ginny's robe.

"Hey, wait – you've got something on your clothes..." He brushed it off for her. It was a white downy feather. Ginny stared at it as though it was a live spider.

"I wonder how that got there?" said Tifa.

"I've just been in the Owlery. It must have come from there," Ginny said, scowling.

"All right," said Tifa, "you don't have to get all defensive like that..."

She exchanged a bemused look with Cloud. He shrugged and turned away. Best to leave all the comforting stuff to Tifa. She was better at that sort of thing. If she wanted to find out what Ginny's problem was, then that was her concern. It was probably some girl thing she doesn't want to talk about in front of me anyway, he thought.

**(A/N: Yay for feline plot devices. Ginny's going to be quite important in this story - she is after all integral to the plot of CoS. Reviews are appreciated. :)**

**Next chapter... Aerith only wants to have a little fun, but what's this? Cloud playing matchmaker? Someone has a crush...)**


	4. You Actually Have an Actual Fan Club?

One dark December evening, Cloud hurried to the library to meet his friends, as was his habit. He walked faster than usual, however, as he had not seen them all day and he wanted to discuss a notice which had appeared that morning in the Gryffindor common room.

He turned a corner on the fourth floor and walked straight into another student.

"Whoa there, mate," the student said. "Slow down."

Cloud backed away, his face hot with embarrassment and saw that he had bumped into the spiky-haired Gryffindor boy who had helped him find the cat. Cloud couldn't recall seeing him in the common room much; not that he spent a great deal of time there himself anyway.

The boy recognised him too. His face split into a wide grin. "Hey, it's my kitten-loving friend. Did you find it?"

"Yeah."

He held out his hand and Cloud shook it hesitantly. "The name's Zack. Didn't get to introduce myself properly before. You are?"

"Cloud."

Zack patted him on the back. "Well, Cloud, you have any more kitten troubles, then come to me. Not all fourth-years eat little shrimps like you. And watch where you're going next time, okay?" He smiled and walked past Cloud, down to the third floor.

Cloud frowned. He wasn't used to strangers being nice to him, especially older students. He paused for a second, but then put the incident out of his mind and continued his way to the library.

He sneaked past Madam Pince, who was looking particularly annoyed today, and headed for their familiar snug corner. He settled himself down in his favourite comfortable armchair opposite Vincent, whose face was buried in a book, and stretched his arms.

"I know you're there," said Vincent's voice from behind the book.

"I wasn't exactly trying to surprise you," said Cloud.

Vincent lowered the book and stared over it in some surprise. "Oh... Cloud. I thought you were Aerith."

"Where is she?"

"Somewhere in the library. Every time she goes to find a new book, she keeps trying to sneak up on me."

Cloud smirked.

"It's not funny."

He caught sight of Aerith peeping at them from behind a shelf. She winked at him and put her finger on her mouth. He looked away, trying to hide his smile.

Vincent's attention returned to his book, which was called _Memoirs of a Vampire Hunter_. Aerith slipped away from the bookshelves and crept towards Vincent, tiptoeing in an exaggerated fashion and with her wand held ready. She stopped just behind him. Vincent gave no sign that he had noticed her presence. Cloud covered his mouth and coughed to try and hide his expression.

Aerith tapped Vincent sharply on the head with her wand, at the same time saying, "_Confundo Choco_!"

Vincent winced as miniature flying chocobos appeared around his head. They circled him, twittering. He shook his head irritably, causing the yellow birds to dance up and down.

"All right," he growled, "very funny. Get rid of them."

Once Aerith had stopped giggling, she muttered the counter-spell and the chocobos vanished. She collapsed in a seat next to Cloud, still chuckling, and the two of them shared an amused smile.

Vincent was not happy at all. He stood up and glared at them both, and then he pulled out his own wand.

"Hey, I didn't do anything," said Cloud.

"You wouldn't jinx a poor, defenceless girl, would you, Vincey?" asked Aerith sweetly.

Vincent kept his wand pointed at her for a moment. Then he sighed and sat back down. "This is why I shouldn't be friends with a girl," he muttered. "Damn my aristocratic breeding."

Aerith grinned. "Your father would be proud."

"Did you see the notice board this morning?" Cloud asked, figuring now would be a good time to stop Aerith teasing Vincent, who was cranky at the best of times.

"Oh yeah – the Duelling Club! It sounds really fun, what do you think, Cloud?"

"Yeah, I'd like to go. I wonder who'll be teaching it."

"Just so long as it's not Lockhart," said Vincent.

At that moment, Tifa arrived with another girl in tow. Ginny gave them all a wan smile as Tifa introduced her, but Cloud couldn't help noticing the shadows under her eyes. She looked ill.

"Hi, Ginny," said Aerith warmly.

"Hey, Cloud, I've got a favour to ask you," said Tifa.

Aerith looked a little put out at being ignored, but she leaned forward over Cloud's chair to listen anyway.

"What is it?"

"Can you introduce Ginny to Harry Potter?"

Cloud watched Ginny's face turn scarlet. The cogs in his brain slowly started to move and his mouth fell open. "You mean…"

"You don't have to do much," said Tifa. "I just want to help Ginny out." She put her arm around the smaller girl.

"He never even notices me," said Ginny miserably. "It's like I don't exist."

"Ooh," said Aerith. "So you really like him, huh?"

She nodded, turning even more scarlet, if that was possible.

"I'm not playing matchmaker-" Cloud began.

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport," said Aerith, whose eyes were beginning to gleam with an enthusiasm he knew only too well. "Ginny, we'll help you get together with Harry. You can count on us!"

"See," said Tifa. "I told you they'd be nice. Aerith is my best friend and she's amazing at getting people together. She's the reason Anthony Goldstein and Lisa Turpin are going out."

Vincent snorted. He opened his book and proceeded to ignore them.

"Never mind Vincent," said Aerith. "He doesn't understand all this girl stuff. But you do, don't you, Cloud?"

Cloud turned red. His mouth flapped like a goldfish but he couldn't think of any words to express his outrage. Vincent was right. This was what happened when you hung out with girls.

Aerith giggled and he realised she was teasing him.

"Silly Cloud," she said. "He's spent a year hanging around with us and he still doesn't know a thing about girls. I bet that's Harry's problem too," she continued, addressing Ginny. "He wouldn't know a pretty girl if she hit him on the nose."

"He is friends with Hermione," said Ginny.

Aerith waved her hand dismissively. "I said _pretty_. Hermione isn't pretty. She's a witch; why doesn't she fix up her teeth?"

"Aerith!" said Tifa reproachfully.

"I'm only speaking the truth," said Aerith. She regarded Ginny with a critical eye. "You're not bad, Ginny. Good Weasley hair, straight teeth, still need to grow a chest but it'll come."

"Ha!" said Cloud. "You're one to talk."

All three of the girls turned and glared at him. He winced under their combined blood-chilling stares. Cloud learned two important things in that moment. The first was that only girls were allowed to find fault with each other's appearances. The second was that you must never, ever make fun of the size of a girl's chest in front of her. Especially not when the girl in question was Aerith, who at twelve years old was still flat-chested, and certainly not when her best friend Tifa was right next to her, who at twelve years old was most definitely not flat-chested. He shrivelled up inside, gave a tiny whimper, and pretended to be interested in a loose thread hanging from the side of his armchair.

"As I was saying," said Aerith dangerously, "you still haven't reached puberty yet, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that when you're only eleven. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with not having breasts at twelve either. In fact," she drew breath, "I'd say that having breasts at twelve years old is abnormal and not something that I'd want at this age anyway."

Tifa crossed her arms over her chest, looking upset.

Vincent peeped over the top of his book. "Did someone mention breasts?"

**xxxxx**

The common room was almost empty. The fire died down, its flickering light casting shadows over the chairs and their few occupants. Cloud watched Harry, Hermione and Ron from a shadowy corner. Didn't they ever leave him alone? How was he supposed to get Harry on his own to talk to him? And what was he supposed to say to him anyway? Hey, Harry, you know Ginny Weasley? She's the number one member of your fan club and she wants to go out with you.

He winced at the thought and then winced some more when he imagined Harry's face.

Aerith, Tifa and Ginny had made him promise. How he'd got dragged into this, he didn't know, but if his friends wanted to help Ginny realise her pre-pubescent crush, that should be their concern. He sighed. Okay, he'd just have to go over there and ask to speak to Harry in private. He tried to think of some excuse for doing this.

He steeled himself and got up. Harry, Ron and Hermione broke off their whispered discussion when he approached them.

"Hi, Harry," he said, trying to sound normal. "Have you done that colour-change essay that Flitwick set?"

"Yeah," said Harry, to Cloud's relief. "Why?"

"I haven't quite finished it yet – would you mind helping me out?"

Harry gave him a confused look. Hermione was the obvious choice to ask for homework help and everyone knew it. He glanced between Ron and Hermione, who both had their eyebrows raised, and then nodded to Cloud.

"I s'pose, if you want."

"I left my stuff upstairs, so let's go up there, yeah?"

Harry gave him another mystified look. "Okay, but you'd be better off asking Hermione."

"I know," said Cloud, "but she's helped me a lot already this year, and anyway she's not allowed in the boy's dormitory."

They went up to the dormitory, which was thankfully empty, and Cloud rummaged around under his bed while Harry pulled out his essay from his bag.

"You know Ron's sister?" he asked as he searched around, feeling awfully transparent and wondering why he'd picked such a bad time – couldn't he ever catch Harry alone in the dormitory in the morning, or during a lesson? But he'd started now, so he'd better get on with it.

"Yeah," said Harry slowly. "I stayed with Ron's family over the summer."

"Oh, what was that like?"

"It was cool. Better than being stuck with the Dursleys anyway."

"You, er, talk much to Ginny?" Dear God, could he be any more obvious?

"Not really." Harry blushed. "She's really shy around me."

"Oh." Cloud racked his brains but couldn't think of anything to add.

"Why do you want to know?"

Cloud found his unfinished essay and sat cross-legged on the bed staring at it. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "No particular reason. I just, er, wanted to know if you liked her." And now he sounded like a girl. He squirmed inside. He decided not to make any promises to Tifa or Aerith ever again.

Harry looked at him oddly. "Do you want help with this essay or not?"

"Do you like her or not?"

"Cloud, what's wrong with you?"

"Just answer the question!"

"Cloud, seriously, shut up."

The time had come for desperate measures. Cloud pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry. "Answer the question or I'll jinx you."

Harry stood up hastily. "What's gotten into you? Did someone put you up to this?"

"No," Cloud lied.

"It was Cid, wasn't it? He had a bet with you or something."

"I'm this far away from jinxing you!" said Cloud, making a gesture with his other hand. Harry saw how close his thumb and index finger were, and took out his own wand.

"I don't want to hex you," he said firmly, "but I will. I don't want people making up rumours about me, that photo of Lockhart and me was bad enough. I'm sick of this whole fan club thing and if someone asked you to get them my autograph, well, I don't give out autographs, got that?" His wand was shaking.

"You actually have an actual fan club?" And he'd been thinking it was a joke. He remembered Cid's occasional comments about how the first-years all idolised the famous Harry Potter.

"No, I don't, but I've had enough of people saying I do."

Cloud's shoulders slumped. "Just forget I ever said anything, okay?"

Harry threw his essay at him. "Here. Copy it if you want." Then he turned around and stormed out of the dormitory.

Cloud wondered if this encounter could have possibly gone any worse. Then he reflected that Harry might not have let him copy the essay, and got down to some work.

**(A/N: Okay, so this chapter was kinda silly. Then again, kids are often immature at that age, so I hope it doesn't seem too unrealistic.**

**Next chapter... the gang attend the Duelling Club and Vincent gets a little hostile...)**


	5. He's a Parselmouth

"We were counting on you, Cloud!" said Tifa.

"Tough. I'm not cut out for this." Cloud sighed. "Why don't you tell Ginny to wait a couple of years until Harry actually shows some interest?"

"She has a crush on him, silly," said Aerith. "She'll have got over it by then."

Cloud shook his head in despair. "Then let her get over it."

"This conversation is truly fascinating," said Vincent, "but are we going to this Duelling Club or not?"

"Yep, let's go," said Cloud, eager to end the conversation. They walked into the Great Hall just in time to find it packed with what looked like most of the school. The house tables had been pushed to the side and a large golden stage dominated the middle of the Hall. The ceiling was dark with a few stars peeping out; the only other light came from a few torch brackets on the walls.

"Oh, no," Vincent groaned.

Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in his usual flamboyantly coloured robes, stood on the stage beaming at everybody. Lurking like an overgrown bat behind him was Snape. Cloud had never seen an odder-looking pair.

"I'm leaving," said Vincent. Cloud caught his arm.

"Don't," he said. "Snape's here too, maybe he'll have something useful to teach us." Cloud hated Snape, but he knew the Potions master wasn't incompetent.

"Really?" said Vincent. "Look." He nodded towards the pair on the stage. Lockhart had decided to do a demonstration of duelling etiquette. He smiled and prattled, while Snape's lip curled.

"First of all," Lockhart called, "we bow to each other."

Lockhart made an exaggerated bow, flapping his hands about. Snape merely nodded his head.

"Ready?" said Lockhart. He brandished his wand; a few feet away from him Snape did the same. "One… two… three…"

"_Expelliarmus_!"

A blast of red light shot out of Snape's wand and hit Lockhart full-force. The wizard was knocked right off the stage. Cloud sniggered as he watched Lockhart climb back onto the stage with his hair askew. Lockhart picked up his wand and brushed down his robes.

"Very good, Professor Snape!" he said. "Though if you don't mind me saying so, it was a tad obvious what you were going to do. I could have blocked it easily had I chosen to."

"Yeah, I bet you could," muttered Vincent.

Snape continued to glare at Lockhart. Cloud wondered how Lockhart could keep up his toothy smile; if Snape looked at him like that, he would be glaring back with all the force he could muster.

"Now, let's practice, shall we?" Lockhart called. "Get into pairs, everyone, and let's see what you can do!"

Cloud paired up with Vincent and Tifa with Aerith. He tried grinning at the pale-faced boy.

"Think you can take me on, Vincent?"

Vincent said nothing, just looked at him with no expression whatsoever. Somehow this was more intimidating than anything else the boy could have said. They bowed to each other and raised their wands, waiting for the signal. Nearby Tifa and Aerith did the same, except with more giggling.

"One… two… three… go!"

"_Everte Statum_!" Cloud yelled.

"_Immobilis_!" cried Vincent.

Jets of light flew from their wands and hit each other in midair; the collision created a blast that sent both Cloud and Vincent flying, and blew a crater in the floor of the Great Hall. Half-dazed, Cloud picked himself up. Everywhere he looked, there was chaos. Like him, many people had been knocked off their feet; several were suffering from minor jinxes and were laughing uncontrollably, wobbling around the hall, clutching their tentacle-covered faces in horror or had turned blue. Tifa's robes had flown over her head and she was crouched on the floor, trying to simultaneously untangle herself and cover herself up. Aerith hadn't gone over to help her though; she was somewhat distracted because her robes were smouldering.

He heard Snape bellow, "_Finite Incantatem_!"

The spell-lights and blasts still going off around the hall vanished instantly. Cloud crawled over to Vincent, who lay unmoving on the floor. A trickle of blood darkened around his mouth, standing out starkly against his pale face. Cloud put his hand to his pocket and felt his Restore materia there, glad that he always kept it with him. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The orb grew warm in his hand. He waved his wand towards Vincent's face and cast a cure spell.

Vincent blinked and stirred. He licked his lips, grimacing at the taste of blood, and sat up.

"Are you all right?" asked Cloud.

"I feel fine." Vincent tested the muscles in his arms and legs and then got up. "Nothing broken, at least."

On the stage, Professor Lockhart surveyed the devastation. "Oh dear," he said. "I think I'd better teach you how to _block_ unfriendly spells. I think this calls for another demonstration. Any volunteers?"

He looked around, but none of the students looked inclined to volunteer. To Cloud's annoyance, Lockhart's eyes came to rest on him. Perhaps it was his distinctive spiky hair, but something had made the professor notice him.

"Ah – here, what about you, young man?"

You could at least remember my name, Cloud thought. You've been teaching me for the past few months.

He was about to step forward, when Snape spoke, his mouth curling in disdain.

"Better not. The boy is appropriately named; Strife causes devastation with the simplest of spells. We'd be sending what's left of Valentine up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Snape turned away from him. "What about… Potter and Malfoy?"

Cloud watched the two second-years step onto the stage. He hadn't realised his fists were clenched until Vincent tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Calm down. He was paying you a compliment, in a backhand sort of way." The ghost of a smile flitted across his pale features. "After all, you could never injure me badly enough that I needed to go to the hospital wing."

"Oh, yeah?" Cloud whispered back. "It wasn't me who needed curing earlier."

Vincent didn't reply. He turned back to the stage, and Cloud followed his gaze. Snape was whispering something to Malfoy; meanwhile at the other end of the stage Lockhart showed Harry how to block spells. He twirled his wand in a complicated pattern, and dropped it.

"Oops," said Lockhart, as the students sniggered, "my wand is a little overexcited. Now, just do as I do, Harry."

"What, drop my wand?" Harry looked nervous. Cloud couldn't blame him; he felt sure that Snape and Malfoy were plotting something nasty.

The two students faced each other. Cloud's heart leapt with anticipation – jinx him, Harry! he found himself thinking.

"_Serpensortia_!" said Malfoy.

A huge black snake slithered out of the end of his wand. It immediately rose up and hissed at Harry who stood, frozen, as the snake advanced on him.

"Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it," said Snape. His face wore a horrible smirk; he was clearly enjoying Harry's terror.

"No, no, let me!" said Lockhart. He flicked back the sleeves of his robes and brandished his wand at the snake, which shot into the air and back down again. Clearly enraged, it raised its ugly head again and hissed. Many students backed away. Cloud stayed where he was; entranced by the sight.

Instead of going for Harry, the snake slid off the stage in the direction of Cloud and Vincent. Cloud stepped back, horrified. Both he and Vincent raised their wands. But then something distracted him. Harry had opened his mouth, but instead of yelling like Cloud expected he would, he made awful hissing and spitting noises. He sounded like… like a serpent.

The snake shot towards Vincent. Unable to move, Vincent stared at its gleaming fangs. On the stage, Harry finally shut his mouth. At the same time, the snake halted its attack and coiled up on the floor.

Cloud felt as though he'd been stupefied. He stared at Harry in utter disbelief, barely even noticing as Snape waved his wand and the snake vanished. Tifa walked up, her body shaking, and took Vincent's arm.

"Let's go," she said.

The meeting was breaking up. All over the Hall, people started whispering, and they kept turning their heads to stare at Harry as they left.

Vincent shook Tifa off and walked away by himself. Cloud, Tifa and Aerith followed him.

"Vincent," said Cloud. "He wouldn't have… It must have been an accident; Harry would never set a snake on you."

Vincent glared at him coldly.

Cloud craned his neck one last time to catch a glimpse of Harry before he left the Hall. Harry was just leaving the stage with his friends, who looked very serious. Harry frowned at them, but his expression was more of puzzlement than anger – didn't he realise what he had just done?

Harry Potter was a Parselmouth.

**xxxxx**

The next day, Cloud's Herbology lesson was cancelled due to the weather. A heavy blizzard last night had left the grounds thick with snow. The Ravenclaws' lesson had also been cancelled, so they took advantage of their opportunity to discuss recent events in the library.

"I don't understand," said Tifa, frowning. Cloud felt a little sorry for her. He knew the Muggle-born girl often felt out of her depth in a world she had barely started to become familiar with. He couldn't imagine how she must feel about the knowledge that the monster of Slytherin was hunting somewhere in the school for Muggle-borns.

"You heard Harry Potter back at the Duelling Club, didn't you?" said Aerith. Her face was uncharacteristically serious. "He spoke in snake language. He's a Parselmouth."

"People can _do_ that?" said Tifa. "Talk to animals?"

"A Parselmouth can talk to snakes," Vincent corrected her, "not to all animals."

"Although my mother has a cousin who swears he's a chocobo whisperer," Aerith remarked with a grin. Vincent glared at her and she made her expression serious again.

"I wonder what he said to it," Tifa said with a shiver.

"You saw what happened," said Vincent darkly. "Potter spoke to the snake and it attacked me. Draw your own conclusions."

"I told you," said Cloud, "Harry would never-"

"Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord when he was a baby," Vincent cut him off. "He attacked me, and now we find out he's hiding Dark powers. That heir of Slytherin you were wondering about? I think he just revealed himself."

Cloud usually respected Vincent's intelligence, but this time he simply couldn't agree. "I think you're talking rubbish," he snapped.

"Don't defend him just because you're both Gryffindors," Vincent spat. "I ought to go find that filthy halfblood and curse him into oblivion right now!"

Tifa gasped. Cloud stared at Vincent coldly. When he spoke, his voice dripped with venom. "What did you just say?"

"Boys, boys, let's not argue," said Aerith. She patted both of them on the shoulder and gave a disarming smile in an attempt to dispel the chilly atmosphere. "Why would Harry Potter be the heir of Slytherin if he's in Gryffindor?"

"Good point," said Cloud quickly.

But Vincent remained stony-faced. "Someone with the power to destroy the Dark Lord has to be using the Dark Arts. Who knows what else Potter has inherited that we don't know about? The Dark Lord was a Parselmouth, and so was Slytherin. It doesn't take a genius to make that connection… Cloud."

Cloud bristled at the subtle insult, but before he could retaliate, someone stepped out from behind a bookshelf. All four of them jumped. The lightning bolt scar on Harry Potter's forehead was clearly visible beneath his black hair, and he held his wand in his clenched fist.

"I want you to know," said Harry, in a tight, suppressed voice that did nothing to disguise his anger, "that I didn't set that snake on you. I told the snake to stop, and it did."

Cloud looked at Vincent, relieved, but Vincent's wand had suddenly appeared in his hand.

"Why should I believe you, Potter?" he growled.

"Because it's true!" Harry yelled.

Vincent raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's convinced me."

Harry looked as though it was taking all his self-restraint not to jinx Vincent, but he spoke calmly enough. "Didn't you notice that after I spoke to the snake, it backed off?"

Vincent opened his mouth to reply, but Tifa stopped him. "Leave it," she said. She was trembling slightly, and Cloud noticed that she too had her wand ready.

Harry glared at the lot of them and stomped off.

"Just so you know," Vincent called, "I'm pureblood! Unlike you."

Harry didn't turn back. He pushed his way through a group of Hufflepuffs, who squeaked in fright, and earned an angry "I say, watch where you're going!" from Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cloud didn't hear Harry's retort, but it made Justin puff up in indignation.

He realised that the Hufflepuffs were coming over to talk to them.

"Hi!" said Aerith. She waved cheerily at them, and winked at Justin Finch-Fletchley, causing him to blush.

"What did he say to you?" asked Ernie Macmillan.

"Says he didn't attack Vincent," said Cloud with a shrug. The Hufflepuffs were all agog, hanging onto his words.

"I was just saying to Hannah here," said Ernie, "that Potter being a Parselmouth… well, it looks mighty suspicious, doesn't it? It's a sign of a Dark wizard."

"You shouldn't judge him just because he can speak Parseltongue," Aerith chided him.

Ernie looked taken aback for a moment, but he pulled himself together quickly. "He attacked Vincent – I say that's evidence enough."

Vincent acknowledged him with a curt nod.

"He has a nasty temper as well," Justin added. "We thought he was going to throw a curse at you."

"Why would he want to attack you, Vincent?" Hannah asked.

Vincent raised one aristocratic eyebrow. "A sense of inferiority, I presume."

The Hufflepuffs laughed and walked back to their own table, no doubt to gossip and speculate on this latest development.

Cloud, Tifa and Aerith turned on Vincent simultaneously.

"You horrible, stuck-up prig!" said Aerith.

"I can't believe you said that," said Tifa, looking upset.

"I didn't realise you still had the old pureblood prejudices," Cloud growled at him. "Saying all that in front of Tifa too, you slimeball."

Vincent's expression didn't change, but his hold on his wand tightened. "I can't hear you if you all speak at the same time," he said.

Aerith and Tifa both looked at Cloud. "Apologise to Tifa," said Cloud harshly.

"For what?"

"For your pureblood arrogance! I didn't expect that coming from you… calling Harry a filthy halfblood and having a go at him even when he came over to explain what happened."

Vincent stared at their hostile faces. Even Aerith wasn't trying to placate him anymore. He stood up, his robes billowing, and swept out of the library.

"Do you think he's mad at us?" asked Tifa. "Maybe we should go talk to him…"

"Leave him, Tifa," said Aerith. "He's probably gone to sulk in a corner somewhere. He'll get over it. I think his pride got hurt when he froze in front of that snake… and you know he doesn't like to admit he's wrong, either."

Cloud nodded at Aerith's assessment. She had an uncanny ability to read people.

"You didn't have to get upset on my behalf," said Tifa. "I know some people look down on me because I'm a Muggle-born. Vincent's not like that though."

"That doesn't cancel out what he said," said Aerith. "Cloud, you should go and talk to Harry. You believe him, don't you?"

Cloud nodded. "He told me he suspected Malfoy is Slytherin's heir."

"That makes far more sense than Harry being it," said Aerith.

Tifa glanced between them, a worried little frown creasing her forehead. "What did Vincent mean about Harry using Dark Magic, then?"

"It's a stigma attached to Parseltongue," Aerith told her. "Snakes have always been associated with Dark Magic… so you can imagine the sort of reception Parselmouths would get. You Know Who is a Parselmouth too."

"Hmm," said Tifa.

There was a short silence, as all three of them sat and pondered. Cloud tried to clear his head. The revelation that Harry was a Parselmouth had shocked and confused him, but he held steadfast to his belief that Harry couldn't be Slytherin's Heir. He gazed over Tifa's shoulder to the window, which was swirling with snow. The library, their regular haunt, had become one of his favourite places to be. It was peaceful, and the air was heavy with magic. He sensed it with every breath. At the moment, however, it was buzzing with talk. The Hufflepuffs were still gossiping away at their table; he briefly heard Ernie Macmillan's voice rise above the rest, shouting, "What's Dumbledore doing about it, that's what I'd like to know!" followed by a chorus of agreement.

Finally, Aerith shook her head and stood up. "Let's go back to the common room, Tifa."

Her eyes met Cloud's and he nodded. "I'll talk to Harry."

All the school was speculating about Harry. He needed some reassurance, Cloud thought. Then he grinned as he imagined what Harry would do if he asked to speak to him in private. He'd probably jinx Cloud before he could even explain that he didn't want to talk about Ginny.

Ginny. He wondered where the timid first-year girl was. He hadn't seen her since before the Duelling Club meeting. Perhaps she would give up her crush on Harry, now everyone thought he was Slytherin's Heir. He hoped so.

**(A/N: Next chapter... After another attack, Harry is considered the main suspect and Cloud returns home for a not-so-merry Christmas.)**


	6. A Sickle Moon and a Host of Stars

**(A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! This chapter is more of a transitional one, but it does set up some important issues between the characters.)**

Caught at the scene of the crime. That's what they were all saying.

"A double attack," whispered Tifa. "And… and we saw Justin not long before."

The victims this time were Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. What worried Cloud the most was the state of Nearly Headless Nick – what kind of monster could petrify someone who was already dead? Most of the school were certain that Harry was the culprit now – he had been found standing alone at the scene of the crime, a dazed look on his face.

"It could so easily have been Vincent," said Aerith. "He went off by himself… and Harry was angry with him too."

"You think Harry did it too?" asked Cloud.

She shrugged unhappily. "I don't know what to think."

"You're a Cetra – can't you sense this kind of stuff?"

Aerith fiddled with a loose strand of her hair and didn't reply. Just then, Ginny emerged from behind a bookshelf. Her face was white and her hands trembled. Tifa stood up and went over to her.

"Ginny! Are you all right?"

"I don't feel well," Ginny whispered.

Tifa patted her sympathetically. "Sit down. I know you're worried about the attacks… We all are."

"You shouldn't be in any danger," said Cloud. "You're pureblood."

Ginny laughed, a strangely harsh and bitter sound coming from such a small girl.

"Do you want to talk in private?" Tifa asked her.

She nodded.

"You don't mind if I leave you for a bit, do you?" Tifa asked the others.

"Be careful," said Cloud. "Stick together."

"We will."

Tifa and Ginny left the library together. Aerith, who had watched them all the way out, flung her head back and gave a derisive snort.

"What's up with you?" asked Cloud in surprise.

"Ginny – who does she think she is, just taking off with my best friend like that?"

"She was upset."

"So – doesn't she have any friends in Gryffindor to talk to?"

Cloud stared at her, bewildered. This wasn't like Aerith at all. She was usually sweet and friendly to everyone, even the Slytherins.

"I thought you wanted to help her…"

"I thought it would be fun at first," said Aerith, "but honestly, Harry is a no-hoper when it comes to girls right now. Especially if he's the one attacking everybody."

"Cloud?"

Cloud jumped. Vincent had just appeared right next to him, with no warning whatsoever.

"Where's Tifa? I wanted to… apologise to her."

"Good!" said Aerith. "So you're sorry for what you said?"

"Yes," said Vincent. "I shouldn't have made that remark about Harry's heritage. Even though it does look like he is Slytherin's Heir after all."

Aerith smiled and hugged him. Vincent looked taken aback by the girl's sudden affection. He stood with his arms limp by his side and looked at Cloud helplessly.

"We don't know where Tifa is right now," said Cloud.

"What?" said Vincent, shaking Aerith off. "You let her wander off by herself?"

"No, she's with Ginny."

Vincent relaxed. "I'll talk to her this evening. You shouldn't let her out of your sight, Cloud. A first-year is no protection for Tifa."

"I don't think a second-year is either," said Cloud glumly.

**xxxxx**

Most of the students were relieved when the holidays approached and they could go home for Christmas. The day before the end of term, Cloud asked Harry if he could speak to him in private.

They were in the dormitory, and though it was morning, no light shone through the windows; the rising sun was hidden behind the snow clouds. Instead, magical flames illuminated the dormitory, one beside every boy's bed. Barret and Cid had already gone down for breakfast, but Harry had only just finished getting dressed.

For a moment, it looked as though Ron intended to stay, but Cloud shot him a pointed look and the boy shrugged and said, "I'll go and meet Hermione in the common room."

Harry straightened his robes and fixed Cloud with a piercing glare. "This better not be about Ginny."

"No, it isn't."

Harry gave him a relieved smile, and sat cross-legged on his bed. "What is it then?"

"It's… about Vincent."

The smile vanished from Harry's face. "I suppose he's certain now that I'm Slytherin's Heir," he said coldly.

"No – listen, Vincent is a good guy. The snake scared him, but he's got over that now, and he's sorry about what he called you."

"A mate of yours, is he?" Harry sneered. "Why can't he tell me this himself? Too scared to talk to the big bad wizard?"

"No, of course not." Harry wasn't taking this as well as he had hoped. His attitude was beginning to irritate Cloud. "Look, I believe you, and so do my friends. I've given you an apology, so don't you think you'd better accept it? There aren't many people on your side, Harry."

Harry's gaze dropped. He traced a pattern on the scarlet coverlet. "Thanks," he muttered. "It's pretty tough when you think everybody's against you." He spoke in barely more than a whisper. It must have cost him a lot to admit that, thought Cloud.

"I know," he said. He didn't want to say how often he felt like that too – well, not so much now, but last year certainly. Just when he thought he was happy with his friends, this monster had to come along and put everything and everyone he cared about in jeopardy. It wasn't fair. Then Cloud remembered Harry's suspicions about Malfoy. "Do you still think Malfoy's the culprit?" he asked.

"I reckon so. We're staying here for Christmas to find out."

Cloud was surprised. People had been so eager to leave Hogwarts, he hadn't imagined that anyone would choose to remain.

"Good luck," he said. "We'll help you when we come back after Christmas."

"Thanks." Harry got up, rubbing his empty stomach. "Come on, let's get some breakfast, I'm starving."

**xxxxx**

Predictably, Cloud's mother fussed over him non-stop when he arrived back home. She interrogated him about what was going on at Hogwarts and several times she expressed a desire to keep him at home.

"I could teach you here, Cloud, it would be so much safer-"

"I want to go back to Hogwarts," he interrupted.

"But Hogwarts isn't safe!"

"You think I'm just going to leave all my friends there? Leave Tifa?"

"Tifa doesn't have to go back either. I can teach both of you." His mother set a dish of steaming vegetable soup on the table, and briefly touched his shoulder before sitting down to eat herself.

Cloud dipped a chunk of bread into the soup and stuffed it into his mouth. "I wanna go back," he mumbled thickly.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Sorry." He swallowed and spoke again. "I want to go back."

She sighed. "And I only want what's best for you, Cloud."

They had reached stalemate again. Cloud stubbornly refused to accept his mother's idea and she just kept talking in circles. All in all, it wasn't the best Christmas he'd ever experienced.

He wanted to see Tifa, to find out how she was getting on, but every time he went round to her house, she had friends or family over and couldn't see him. Her father always answered the door and he turned Cloud away with increasing irritation. Cloud suspected that he had forbidden Tifa from seeing him too. He wondered why the man's animosity towards him had increased so much.

Eventually, Cloud resorted to sending Tifa a letter. He watched Ghost swoop across to Tifa's house and tap on her bedroom window with her beak. The message he had written was short: a simple request for Tifa to meet him that night by the well.

He slipped out of the house by opening his bedroom window and using his broomstick to fly safely to the ground. He landed with a soft thump in the snow, stuck his wand in his belt and wrapped his cloak more tightly around him. His heart hammering fast, he propped the broomstick against the wall. He was glad that he had thought to wear gloves and thick boots too; the night air was frozen.

He edged around the side of the house, sticking to the shadows. A sickle moon and a host of stars illuminated the snow; it glittered on every branch, lay in soft drifts upon every fence and wall, and coated the roof of each house. When he reached the front, he crept down the garden path, occasionally throwing a backwards glance to the house. He knew that if he peeked inside the window, he would see his mother, watching the Muggle festivities on TV or perhaps listening to Celestina Warbeck's latest Christmas single on the radio, with a glass of Firewhisky in her hand. She thought he was asleep in bed.

His house was directly opposite the village square. Nibelheim was a tiny village, almost a hamlet, nestled in the shadows of the hills. A giant Christmas tree stood proudly in the centre of the square, next to the old well that had been there for as long as he could remember. Its twinkling lights made the scene appear more cheerful; even more so as he looked around at the lights in the windows of the other houses. Many of the villagers were staying up late, for it was New Year's Eve.

The square, however, was deserted, the village's inhabitants having chosen to celebrate the advent of a new year indoors, or perhaps they had gone to visit relatives elsewhere.

Cloud shivered, partly from the cold, partly in nervous anticipation. His feet crunched through the fresh snow, leaving a trail of shadowed footprints behind him. He skulked beside the well for a while, wondering if Tifa would come. As the seconds ticked by, anxiety gnawed at his stomach. Perhaps Tifa had told her father about what had happened at Hogwarts and he had decided she should stay at home, live as a Muggle. He'd never been too fond of witchcraft anyway; what would he think if he found out that a monster was lurking inside Hogwarts, all too eager to kill his little girl?

When he saw a small figure appear in the doorway of Tifa's house, silhouetted by the lights blazing from inside, he was inordinately relieved. The figure stepped out hesitantly, closed the door and shivered. Cloud's eyes had grown used to the dim light, so he made out Tifa's pale features clearly as she hurried down the path. He stepped out of the shadow of the well to greet her.

"Tifa-"

"Cloud!" she said at the same time.

They stopped; perhaps a yard of snowy ground separated them. A short, awkward silence followed.

Tifa stamped her feet and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's cold…"

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "Do you want to… er…?"

She followed his gaze to the well. Cloud motioned her to come with him, and the pair climbed up the old wooden structure and perched on the rim of the well.

Tifa swung her legs as she turned her head to gaze at the stars. "It's so pretty…"

"I come here a lot," said Cloud. "You get a pretty good view of the whole village. Careful not to fall in though."

"I know."

A few more seconds of silence lapsed. Cloud had been debating what to ask her first. But now she was here, he found himself just relishing her presence.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to see you more often," said Tifa quietly.

"That's okay. I mean, I wondered…"

She smiled. "We live next door to each other and we don't even get a chance to see each other. Stupid, huh? No, it's my father who's stupid."

"He… won't let you see me?"

"No. I told him I was going to Aerith's house for a New Year's Party tonight."

"Oh. I thought so. I tried to call on you a few times. For all I knew, he was keeping you locked up."

"He's not _that_ bad."

"Why doesn't he want you to see me?"

Tifa sighed. She tilted her head up again, away from Cloud, so that all he could see of her face was covered by long dark hair. "It's… complicated."

"You haven't told him about what's happening at Hogwarts, have you?"

"No. He'd have a fit." She fell silent, still staring at the sky. Cloud didn't want to press her. Instead, he looked at the stars, trying to find constellations he recognised from his Astronomy lessons. He wondered if there was any point to the celestial dance. Did it mean anything? He knew that some Seers used the movements of the stars to predict fortunes on Earth. But why would the stars care anyway? What would their intricate patterns have anything to do with what happened here?

A sudden bang startled him and he almost fell off the well. Tifa jumped too, and he caught her, steadying her with a hand pressed against her back. The source of the noise became immediately clear as another bang sounded, and they saw the explosion of colourful sparks that accompanied it.

"Fireworks!" said Tifa.

More fireworks went off, screeching into the air with a high, piercing whine, and exploding with force into showers of stars. Cloud and Tifa watched, entranced. The fireworks were coming from a large field behind the village; he could hear faint cheers from that direction.

"You know what this means, don't you?" said Tifa.

"What?"

"It must be midnight. The new year has arrived."

"You're right." A new year. Not that it meant much to Cloud. He had always preferred Christmas to New Year's Day; more presents were involved. Inside the house, his mother was probably celebrating with another drink. She was alone. He should have stayed up with her…

"It's cold," said Cloud. "Maybe we should go back inside."

"My father won't be expecting me yet."

Cloud frowned. Tifa had finally turned to face him, and her expression was a little frosty. She hadn't thought out that lie very well. He considered telling her this, but it wouldn't help; it would only make her mad. Then an idea struck him.

"You can come back to my house if you want."

Tifa's mouth opened slightly. She shivered and shook her head. "What about your mother?"

"We'll sneak in the way I sneaked out."

Tifa still looked unsure, but she nodded anyway. Above them, the fireworks had stopped and the glittering stars reigned over the sky again. It was quiet.

"Let's go," said Cloud.

**(A/N: I love writing young Cloud and Tifa. They're so cute and awkward together.**

**Next chapter... The tension in the school has a negative impact on the students as cracks appear in certain relationships...)**


	7. There's Something Not Right

**(A/N: Have you ever noticed how strange dreams seem to be a constant feature of the Harry Potter books? And they always seem to foreshadow something. So I thought it would be an interesting technique to use myself. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.)**

Tifa looked up at the open bedroom window. "How are we supposed to get up?"

Cloud found his broomstick still leaning against the wall. It wasn't easy to spot in the dark, but he remembered where he had left it. He picked it up and motioned for Tifa to climb on behind him.

"We're going to fly up? Are you sure it'll support both of us?" She shivered, her brown eyes sparkling with worry.

"It'll be all right," Cloud told her confidently. "It's not far." He mounted the broomstick and felt Tifa slide on behind him. "Hold on tight."

Tifa screamed and flung her arms around his waist just as they shot into the air. They rose a few feet very quickly, but for a moment Cloud thought they weren't going to reach the window ledge; he hadn't taken into account the additional weight of carrying Tifa. Before they lost momentum altogether, he pulled upwards and to his utmost relief the broom came to a stop right in front of the window. They hovered in midair. Cloud reached out and grabbed the window ledge. He slid off the broom and scrambled onto the ledge with difficulty; Tifa kept the broom steady. His wand fell out of his hand and onto the bedroom floor, but that didn't matter now. As he stumbled into the bedroom, Tifa flew in and landed beside him.

"That was close," Tifa gasped. "It's been a while since I've flown on a broom." They were both panting heavily. Ghost watched them from her cage on the chest of drawers, and let out a faint squawk.

"We made it," said Cloud. "I'm sorry – I should have accelerated faster."

"That's okay." Tifa put the broom down and looked around. The bedroom was dark, the only light coming from the faint glimmer of the stars outside, but both their eyes had well-adjusted to the darkness by now. "What are we gonna do now?"

Cloud didn't reply for a moment. Ghost rustled her wings restlessly. Then another sound came – the regular tread of feet climbing the stairs.

"It's my mother!" Cloud hissed. "Quick, hide!"

"Where?"

"I don't know, inside the wardrobe, under the bed – wherever you want!"

Tifa pulled a face at the idea, but she walked over to the wardrobe anyway. "Ugh – it's cramped."

"Shh!" Cloud hastily flung off his heavy cloak, boots and gloves. His mother might not check on him, but he couldn't risk it. He scrambled under the bed covers, making sure that only his head was visible, and feigned sleep. Tifa had vanished; he hoped she would keep quiet.

A soft creak told him that his mother had reached the landing. He held his breath as the footsteps neared his bedroom door, but then the footsteps retreated. She had gone into the bathroom. A few seconds later, he heard running water.

He sat up. Tifa's head was poking out from the wardrobe.

"Now what?" she mouthed.

"Stay there," Cloud whispered.

They waited. The seconds lengthened. Eventually, the sounds of his mother pottering about faded. She had gone into her bedroom without checking on Cloud. He sat up, listening as hard as he could, and then tiptoed over to the wardrobe. Tifa coughed when he opened the door.

"It's stuffy in here," she muttered.

"You can come out now."

Tifa emerged, her hair slightly dishevelled. "What time is it?" She looked at her watch as she spoke and answered her own question. "Half past twelve."

"When will your father expect you to be back?"

"I didn't give him an exact time. I suppose I could go now. I mean, it's past midnight now, and that's what everyone stays up for."

Cloud shrugged. "It's up to you."

They were both speaking in whispers. Cloud doubted that his mother would hear them; she was a heavy sleeper.

"You can leave the normal way this time," he said.

"Okay." He could tell that she was regretting coming here at all.

They crept down the stairs, wincing every time it creaked, and padded across the cold kitchen floor. Cloud opened the door, which he unlocked with an ordinary Muggle key. He shivered as the cold air floated in to meet him.

"Bye," Tifa whispered. "See you back at Hogwarts."

"See you."

When she had gone, he slumped against the kitchen counter in relief. He had been glad to see Tifa again, but maybe it wasn't worth all this secrecy. Her reassurance that she was returning to Hogwarts pleased him, but she hadn't really explained why her father didn't want Cloud anywhere near her. His only consolation was that he could see her at school. Her father couldn't prevent that.

He poured himself a glass of water before going back to bed. Maybe he thinks I'm a bad influence, Cloud thought.

**xxxxx**

Cloud had always enjoyed coming back to Hogwarts. This year, however, many people weren't so keen. Cid was running a flourishing black market, selling cheap imitation Soft Rings to anyone gullible enough to buy them. In the weeks after the New Year, he found that his lessons were often quiet and tense, as was the atmosphere in the whole school. Vincent became silent and withdrawn, often choosing to retreat to the Ravenclaw common room alone instead of joining them in the library like he normally did. Cloud had no idea what was up with him and he didn't get much chance to ask either. Aerith remained cheerful on the outside, but every time she saw Tifa talking with Ginny, her lips tightened.

Cloud and Aerith often found themselves studying alone. He didn't mind this; Aerith was good company, but he couldn't help feeling worried anyway. How could he protect Tifa if she was never with them?

There was one thing he was particularly interested to find out when he returned though, and that was how Harry and his friends had gotten on sneaking into the Slytherin common room. He got the chance to ask a few evenings after he returned. He had retired to the dormitory early, to find Harry and Ron there, looking worried.

"Did you find out then?" he asked eagerly, without preamble.

Ron looked blank, but Harry answered. "It's not Malfoy."

Cloud's shoulders slumped. "Oh."

Ron stared at Harry. "You told him about the Polyjuice Potion."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah. It's not like we found out anything." He looked rather despondent, Cloud thought.

"Hermione ended up in hospital too," Ron told him.

"What? How? Is she all right?"

"Yeah, apart from having the face of a cat."

Cloud's mind boggled. His mouth fell open; he wasn't sure whether to laugh or be sympathetic.

"She still wants all her homework though," Ron went on. "Mad, I tell you. If I ended up in the hospital wing, I'd be milking it for all it's worth."

"Maybe I'll go and visit her," said Cloud.

"She might not want other people to see her like that," said Ron. He stretched, showing that his pyjamas were too short to keep up with his lanky frame. Meanwhile, Harry had pulled out a roll of parchment and was sitting cross-legged on his bed, frowning at it.

Cloud shrugged. He turned his attention to Harry. "Homework?"

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, this essay is supposed to be handed in tomorrow."

"And Hermione's not here to help us," Ron moaned. He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out his own rather battered roll of parchment. Then he picked up a quill and chewed it thoughtfully, before sighing and starting to scribble.

Cloud rolled his eyes. He had finished the essay – it was for History of Magic, which they had first thing tomorrow morning. He had worked on it with Aerith, who had an excellent memory for historical facts even though she despised the subject as much as he did. But Harry and Ron wouldn't think to ask him. They were too used to relying on Hermione.

He pulled round the hangings of his four poster bed for some privacy and started reading a prescribed chapter for Defence Against the Dark Arts by the light of his wand. This particular edition was _Break with a Banshee_ and once more it detailed Lockhart's amazing bravery and skill in defeating another obnoxious Dark creature. Cloud found it hard to connect the heroic figure portrayed in the books with the vain and incompetent teacher he saw in his lessons. Vincent thought him a fraud. He was probably right.

He fell asleep with the book still open on his pillow. Lockhart appeared in his dream, smiling his dazzling smile and explaining that he had single-handedly defeated the monster of Slytherin.

"You can't have," shouted Cloud. "You're a phoney!"

Then Tifa appeared and she scolded him. "You're the phoney, Cloud," she said. "You said you'd protect me, but you can't do that. Why do you keep trying to be someone else, huh?"

She changed into Aerith, who was wearing the pink dress from his birthday party, and Aerith said, "Who are you, Cloud? Who are you trying to be? Do you like me? Do you like me?"

And he shook his head and said, "Of course, I'm your friend, aren't I?" And Aerith and Tifa stood next to each other, arm in arm and they shook their heads at him, smiling insubstantially.

He held out his hand. They were his friends; they had to come to him. But the two girls just smiled and walked away. He started running, but they had vanished – they were going to find Vincent instead. He was lost, alone in the castle, and he didn't know which corridor to take. He heard something snarling – the monster of Slytherin! Lockhart had lied, of course he had, and now the monster was coming to kill him. Overwhelming fear filled his body; he had never felt such intense panic.

Cloud woke up, sweating, with his heart hammering. The fear was still in him, remote but vivid, like in all dreams. He heard voices; Cid and Barret had just entered the dormitory and were getting ready for bed. He concentrated on breathing in and out, trying to slow down his heartbeat. He recalled the dream, but already it was fragmented, the pieces fading away. All that was left was the fear.

It took him a long time to fall asleep again.

**xxxxx**

Late January and the castle was cold and draughty. Cloud and Aerith had once again taken refuge in the library. Cloud was attempting to write a Potions essay, but Aerith wasn't helping. She had finished all her work and instead kept distracting him.

"I mean," she burst out for the third time, "would it kill her to at least come and talk to us for, you know, _five minutes_?"

Cloud sighed and scratched out a mistake on his parchment.

"I swear I've been hanging around more with Lisa and Padma since we got back. Did you know that I invited her to a New Year's party and she didn't turn up?"

Cloud shifted uncomfortably and kept his head bent down.

"Cloud, are you listening to me?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "But you've said most of this before. What else am I supposed to say?"

Aerith sat back and put her finger on her lips, considering. "How do you feel about this? Tifa's your friend too and she's abandoned you."

He shrugged.

"Come on, tell me. Let it all out."

"I don't know… is this really the time? I'm trying to work here."

"Sorry." She examined her interlocking fingers for a moment. "But – Ginny, for God's sake! There's something not right about that girl. Something off."

"It's her first year, maybe she's having a hard time."

"In fact, I'm sure there's something _rotten_ about her." A spasm of disgust passed across Aerith's face.

Cloud kept quiet. Personally, he thought Aerith was being over the top. Ginny didn't look too happy, true, but he'd struggled in his first few weeks at Hogwarts just the same. Maybe she was homesick. Or maybe it was the fact that for all they knew, a giant monster was still loose in the castle. He felt sorry for her. Aerith, however, appeared to have discarded all her usual empathy. This was the girl who had once expressed sympathy for Lord Voldemort, of all people. She had said that she doubted he was born evil – maybe he just had a bad childhood. Upon which Vincent had been overcome with a fit of hacking laughter and had to leave to get a glass of water.

"I wonder what they talk about," Aerith went on. "Do you think she still fancies Harry Potter? Well, he is cute-"

Cloud spluttered. "You think Harry's _what_?"

"He's a hero," said Aerith calmly. "Girls like that. Now, if only he were a bit taller…"

The lamp next to their table flickered. Someone spoke behind him.

"Hey, Cloud."

He turned, grateful for the interruption. His eyes widened in surprise. "Hi, Zack."

The fourth-year Gryffindor grinned lazily. "Who's your pretty friend?"

"Oh – this is-"

"I'm Aerith." The girl stood up and held out her hand for Zack to shake, which he did. She blushed slightly and smiled.

"So," Zack drawled, "are you two a couple?"

"Oh no," said Aerith quickly, "no, we're just friends, Cloud and I."

Cloud opened and shut his mouth a couple of times but he really didn't know how to react. Zack winked at him.

"Good. Well, I'll see you around." He was about to walk off, when he stopped as though he had just remembered something. "Oh yeah – I was going to warn you. I think it might be best for you to leave the library now."

"Why?" asked Cloud. He still had his essay to do.

Zack winked again. "Let's just say Fred and George and I have got a little something planned. You don't want to get caught in the middle of it, believe me." He nodded at Cloud, gave Aerith another smile and disappeared behind a bookshelf.

"We'd better go," said Cloud. He started to gather his things, but noticed that Aerith hadn't moved. She was sitting with a dreamy expression on her face. "Aerith, didn't you hear him? Let's go."

Aerith blinked. "Oh – yes, of course."

**(A/N: Reviews are much appreciated, as ever.**

**Next chapter... it's Valentine's Day! Damn, my timing is completely off... I should have started posting the story a week earlier. Oh, well. I'm sure you can imagine that there's lots of fun and frolics in order. Or maybe not...)**


	8. A Cloud of Rose Petals

It came as a complete surprise to Cloud when on the morning of February 14th he walked down to the Great Hall to find it snowing heart-shaped confetti. The place had been decorated with lurid pink curtains that almost made his eyes water. As he nudged Cid to take a place at the Gryffindor table, several people sniggered and looked towards where the teachers were sitting.

Professor Lockhart had stood up, wearing blindness-inducing robes that perfectly matched the colour of the Hall decorations. He clapped his hands and a number of dwarfs marched in from the Entrance Hall, with ridiculous little cherub wings attached to their backs. Cloud stared at them in utter disbelief.

Meanwhile, Lockhart was making an announcement. Apparently all this was his idea of a treat for the whole school, something to get their minds off the lurking danger of Slytherin's monster.

"They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines!" said Lockhart. "And, meanwhile, why don't you ask Professor Snape to whip you up a Love Potion? And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!" Lockhart winked and patted Flitwick's shoulder. The poor professor had sunk right into his chair, his tiny face beetroot red.

Throughout the rest of the day, the dwarfs kept interrupting classes, barging in to deliver Valentines. Cloud noticed that most of the girls in his class had become unbearably giggly. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil kept whispering to each other and sneaking looks behind them to the other boys in the class. Even Hermione, who was normally staid and serious, seemed to be unusually pink-cheeked in his Transfiguration lesson.

After the lesson, he went to meet his Ravenclaw friends outside the greenhouses, where they had just emerged from Herbology. To his chagrin, Aerith was smiling and blushing as a sullen-looking dwarf handed her a cream envelope and a single red rose. Next to her, Vincent was watching, his shoulders hunched and his expression unreadable. As Cloud walked up to them, Aerith looked up.

"Hey, Cloud, I got a Valentine, look!" She smiled and opened the envelope. A cloud of rose petals burst out and floated to the ground, accompanied by sweet music. She picked out a small note which had been left inside and read it aloud. "_Aerith, your beauty glows brighter than all the roses in the world._ Oh! Cloud!"

"What?"

"Cloud – you didn't…?"

The blood rushed to his face as he realised what she meant. "No, I didn't! I didn't send it."

"It's really sweet," said Aerith, her face glowing. She looked up at the sky, clutching the note to her chest. "I wonder who did send it."

"Let's go," said Vincent, but right at that moment, Tifa ran up to them. She looked out of breath, her face flushed with excitement.

"I did it! I persuaded her!"

Aerith's mouth fell open. "You did?"

Now they were the only students still hanging around the greenhouses. The day was fine and frosty. Cloud shivered, his breath blowing out in clouds. He looked between Tifa and Aerith, not understanding.

"You did what?"

"I got Ginny to send a Valentine to Harry Potter," said Tifa. "Quick – Cloud, what class has he just been in? Maybe we can find him…" Then she noticed the rose petals around Aerith's feet and the crumpled envelope in the other girl's hand. "Aerith – what's that?"

"Somebody sent me a Valentine," Aerith beamed.

The bright colour in Tifa's cheeks faded. "Really? Who?"

"We don't know," said Vincent brusquely. "And I don't care, to be frank. Let's go."

Tifa crossed her arms over her chest, shivering slightly. "Oh, all right then…" She glanced at Cloud. "C'mon."

The four of them headed back into the castle. It felt strange for them to all be together. It seemed to Cloud that it had been ages since all four of them hung out. Tifa and Aerith walked ahead, still discussing Valentine's Day. Vincent slouched next to Cloud, trailing his feet, not really looking where he was going.

"What's up with you?" Cloud asked.

"Nothing."

They passed through a crowd of people hanging around in the Entrance Hall, listening to a group of dwarfs who were serenading a poor Hufflepuff girl they had cornered. She was blushing furiously, her curly hair hiding her face.

Cloud didn't press the issue. Then they reached the first floor corridor, and he heard Aerith's excited mutter. "There's Harry Potter!"

They stopped along with the crowds of other students, including, Cloud noticed, Ginny Weasley standing in a line of first-years. Harry's expression looked desperate; he was running away from the gruff-voiced dwarf, but he hadn't reached Cloud before the dwarf tackled him and sent him sprawling to the ground. Then the dwarf plucked at his harp and started singing in a deep growl.

_His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,_

_His hair is as dark as a blackboard._

_I wish he was mine, he's really divine,_

_The hero who conquered the Dark Lord._

Cloud listened to the lines, first in disbelief, then in amusement, and finally he had to stop himself from sniggering. Poor Harry! Next to him, Aerith had collapsed in a fit of giggles.

Harry laughed along with everyone else, but his face was bright red with embarrassment. He pulled himself to his feet. Draco Malfoy, the pale-faced Slytherin boy, pushed his way through the crowd. Cloud tensed and let out an annoyed sound as Malfoy shoved past him.

"I don't think Potter liked your Valentine!" Malfoy sneered at Ginny. She gasped and shuddered. That was another red face to add to the ranks, Cloud thought. As Harry scarpered and Malfoy sauntered off, with a smug grin on his face, Tifa rushed up to Ginny and patted her shoulder.

"It's all right," she said consolingly. "I'm sure he liked it really…"

Ginny let out a muffled sob. The first-year students around her started moving off into the classroom as the bell rang, some of them still sniggering.

"Who thought up the lines?" asked Aerith. "Don't tell me it was you, Tifa. _His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad._ Oh my God!"

"Shut up," said Tifa. "It was a very nice poem, Ginny. And the tune was really sweet too."

But Ginny shook her head. "I think he hates me," she said, still mortified.

"No, no he doesn't…"

"I've got to go," said Ginny. "I'm late." And she dashed into the classroom behind her, slamming the door.

"Well," said Vincent, who had been standing with his arms folded, watching the whole spectacle.

But he was prevented from saying whatever he had been going to say, for Tifa and Aerith were staring daggers at each other.

"I'm only trying to help Ginny," said Tifa. "She's my friend; it would help if you'd be a bit more supportive!"

Aerith put her hands on her hips. "So why don't you and Ginny just go away and figure out your silly little plans together, huh?"

"Well, if that's how you feel, fine!" Tifa huffed. She turned away and marched right off. The other three stared after her. Cloud just stood there, feeling useless. He didn't know what to say, what to do. In the end, when Vincent and Aerith started walking off, he drifted after them too. The atmosphere was tense and silent. He heard the chatter and noise of the other Hogwarts students making their way to their lessons as though he was in a bubble. They were outside him. This day, he thought, had been very strange.

A minute before they parted to go to their respective lessons, he heard Vincent mutter, "Stupid Lockhart."

He definitely agreed with that sentiment.

**xxxxx**

It was two weeks since the disaster that was Valentine's Day and Tifa and Aerith still weren't speaking to each other. As February merged into March, the first signs of spring were occurring. The air was a little less chilly, a few plants were beginning to sprout, and the mandrakes in the greenhouses were growing up. Hogwarts was beginning to feel less gloomy, as no more attacks had occurred.

But Cloud still felt despondent. He didn't know what to do about Tifa and Aerith. Almost every time he saw Tifa she seemed to have attached herself to Ginny, and what's more, the two girls always looked cheerful when he saw them, talking and laughing, sometimes with Ginny's other first-year classmates, sometimes with a couple of other Ravenclaw girls, and sometimes on their own. Meanwhile, he gathered from Vincent that the two girls were decidedly ignoring each other when they were both in the Ravenclaw common room. Aerith spent most of her time with Lisa and Padma, always making sure she was the life and soul of the common room, socialising with anyone and everyone except Tifa. And Tifa, if she wasn't with Ginny, often locked herself away in her room.

Vincent was no help.

"Do whatever you want," he muttered, when Cloud tried to ask him for advice.

Cloud wanted to strangle him. Didn't Vincent even care? But again, Vincent seemed preoccupied with other matters. It made Cloud feel lonely. All his friends had deserted him, or as good as. He found himself playing Quidditch with Cid and Barret a few times, but although that was fun, it wasn't quite the same.

It wasn't much use talking to Aerith or Tifa either.

"She's just jealous," said Aerith, while they were both working in the library. "You saw her face when I got that Valentine, didn't you? She got all upset because she didn't get one. That's what this is really about."

Later on, Tifa came to talk to Cloud in the library too. The candles flickered as she set her books down. Cloud soon wished that he had never brought up the subject when he hesitantly mentioned Aerith.

"She's just jealous," said Tifa at once. "She doesn't like it that I've got another friend. I don't know what her problem is with Ginny, but she's been horrible to her from the start. And I'm sick of it."

He changed the topic of conversation as soon as he could.

"Do you know what new subjects you're going to choose?"

The second-years had to choose two extra subjects to take next year. These included Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. Cloud had no idea which to pick. His mother had sent him a letter bombarding him with a huge amount of often contradictory advice. It had left him even more confused.

"I'm not sure," said Tifa, frowning. "I think Care of Magical Creatures sounds interesting, but I don't know what else… Do you know what Aerith's doing?"

"Divination and Ancient Runes."

"I think I'll do Arithmancy then."

**xxxxx**

Cloud wrapped his Gryffindor scarf around his neck and looked at his watch. He was late. The Quidditch match against Hufflepuff would be starting any minute. He put on a pair of trainers, checked his watch again and dashed down to the common room.

To his surprise, it wasn't deserted. In fact, the common room was full; he thought that every single Gryffindor student must be there. Several Gryffindors looked as though they had only just returned. Some were holding flags, others taking off their coats and scarves. The atmosphere was hushed.

He saw Barret and Cid conversing together in low voices in the armchairs by the fire and went over to them.

"What's going on? Why isn't everyone going to the match?"

"It's been cancelled," said Barret. His skin looked even darker silhouetted by the fire and his mouth was set in a grim line. Cid looked equally grim.

"Why?"

"Another attack," said Cid.

Once again, Cloud felt the familiar flutterings of panic. "Who?"

"Hermione," said Cid heavily. "And another girl, a Ravenclaw, I don't know who…"

"They've-"

"Petrified," Cid confirmed.

"It's a miracle no-one ain't kicked the bucket yet," said Barret, shaking his head.

Not dead then. He breathed a sigh of relief. But who was the Ravenclaw girl who had been Petrified? Unbidden, an image of Tifa came into his mind, her body stiff and immobile, like a corpse. He had to know if she was safe.

Cloud walked over to the portrait hole, intending to go to the Ravenclaw common room and find his friends, but a red-haired boy blocked his way. Cloud recognised him: Percy, one of the Gryffindor prefects.

"Excuse me," he said.

Percy looked down at him through his glasses. "You can't leave."

"Why?"

"Because there's been another attack. One of our own Gryffindors… and, and, another girl, a prefect too, no less." Percy's mouth trembled. He looked rather upset, but he pulled himself together. "For the safety of all students, we're introducing extra security. No Hogwarts student is to travel the corridors alone. You have to stay in the common room."

Cloud went back to sit with Barret and Cid, feeling extremely shocked. If the Ravenclaw girl who had been attacked was a prefect, he knew it couldn't be Tifa. But somehow, that didn't make matters much better. It seemed as though they had been lulled into a false sense of security. There hadn't been any attacks for months, and they had let themselves get distracted by petty arguments. He wished more than anything that he could talk to Vincent and Tifa and Aerith.

Barret and Cid were still discussing the attacks.

"Did you know," said Cid, "that they've suspended Dumbledore?"

"What?" Cloud gasped.

"Yep. The Ministry think he's losing his touch. He hadn't been able to stop those damn attacks."

"And they think getting rid of Dumbledore will help?"

"It's bloody stupid," Barret growled. "It'll be even worse without Dumbledore."

Yes, worse, Cloud thought. Things were getting even worse. His stomach sank.

**(A/N: Time is moving quite fast. We're getting nearer to the end now. Next chapter... New writing appears on the wall... Can the four no-longer-friends make it up in time to help?)**


	9. Mudblood!

**(A/N: Look out for yet another cameo this chapter.)**

Cloud and Vincent entered the library. It was quiet, subdued. All that could be heard was the scratching of quills and the rustling of pages as people worked in silence, occasionally looking around with fear in their eyes. Nobody felt safe at Hogwarts any more.

"There's Harry," said Vincent in a low voice.

Over at one of the tables, Harry and Ron were sitting together. Ron was staring at a blank sheet of parchment with his quill in his mouth. Harry was gazing off into the middle distance. He looked deep in thought. There was something strange about that picture. It took Cloud a few seconds to realise what it was. Hermione was missing – she should be there, next to Ron, nagging him to do some work.

"I want to talk to him," said Vincent.

"Okay," said Cloud, a little surprised. Vincent and Harry hadn't spoken since the encounter after the snake attack.

Harry's expression darkened when Vincent swept up to him. He brushed his fringe back from his forehead, revealing his scar for a moment before the hair covered it again.

Vincent looked down at Harry, at his hands which were splattered with ink, and the untidy writing on Harry's parchment. Then he met Harry's green eyes and took a deep breath.

"I would like to apologise in person, Harry," he said stiffly. "I know you would never hurt your friend Hermione Granger. I'm sorry for suspecting you."

Harry's mouth fell open. "That – that's okay," he managed at last.

Vincent held out his hand. Harry shook it. The gesture was oddly constrained and formal. Cloud met Ron's eyes and the red-haired boy shrugged, his mouth curling upwards.

Vincent's hand withdrew back into the folds of his school robes. He nodded at Harry, his lips curving in the slightest approximation of a smile.

"Cloud," said Ron suddenly, "have you done this Potions essay?"

"Some of it," Cloud answered. "I came here to finish it."

"D'you know how many types of leaping toadstools there are?"

Cloud hesitated, and at a nod from Ron, he sat down. He sensed Vincent perch on the end of the seat next to him and knew his friend felt uncomfortable. He took his copy of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ out of his bag, along with his unfinished essay. He had bookmarked the section he needed and now he flicked straight to the right page.

"Yeah, it's…"

Ron thanked him and started scribbling, following Cloud's hastily scrawled notes which he had made in the margins of the book. The four boys worked together for about an hour and it wasn't long before the awkwardness dissipated and they forgot about the Potions essay and started talking about the goings-on at Hogwarts instead. Only Vincent seemed ill-at-ease, his chair slightly apart from the others; he remained bent over his work and didn't speak.

"Did you know they've taken away Hagrid as well?" Ron asked.

"What?" Cloud gasped.

"Yeah. Locked him up in Azkaban."

"Why?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"They think he might have opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry.

Hagrid… At first, Cloud's mind simply boggled. The giant man had been working at Hogwarts for years, and nothing had happened. But then his thoughts strayed to the events of last year. Hagrid had hidden a baby dragon inside his hut. Clearly the gamekeeper had a liking for monsters. He had always scared Cloud a little too, with his gigantic stature and forbidding appearance – especially that huge beard of his.

Ron interrupted his train of thought. "It's not him," he said. "Hagrid would never attack anyone. I reckon the Ministry have cocked things up as usual."

"So, who is it then?" Cloud wondered aloud. "It's not Malfoy… it's not you…" Harry gave a start at this, but then he just grinned and shrugged.

"Doesn't rule out many people, does it?" Harry said wryly.

Cloud's shoulders slumped. "All those people who've been Petrified… it's only a matter of time before someone gets killed."

**xxxxx**

The second-years were horrified to learn from Professor McGonagall that the exams would be taking place at the beginning of June.

"They expect us to do _exams_? Now?" Cid asked, apparently amazed that exams were still on the agenda while a creepy monster was lurking around in the school.

"We are striving to keep this school open and functioning," Professor McGonagall replied. "Therefore you will all take your exams this year. I trust you are revising hard."

She dismissed the panicked second-years from Transfiguration. Cloud's mind was racing over all the notes he had taken this year – he didn't have time to revise everything! With another worry added to the burden on his shoulders, he sighed, adjusted his bag and made his way through the corridors. The teachers were now escorting the students to their next lessons, which meant that Cloud couldn't slip away to find his friends like he wanted to. Not that his friends were ever in the same place any more.

**xxxxx**

The sun shone bright and hot. Cloud and Aerith had ventured outside to do some revision, watched by Professor Flitwick who was supervising the students outside. Aerith skipped along, smiling and cheering, for that morning Professor Sprout had announced that the mandrakes were ready to be cut.

"All those people who've been Petrified are gonna be cured!" she said.

"Yeah, great," said Cloud. He was happy about it, of course, but it seemed they were still no nearer to catching the culprit.

Aerith grabbed his arm. "Look!"

"What?" Cloud squinted; the sun was in his eyes.

"Over there, by the lake. Who's that Vincent's talking to?"

He caught sight of Vincent then, next to the lake as Aerith had said. The boy was standing with his hands behind his back, fidgeting. A smaller girl was talking to him, but he couldn't see her face because Vincent was in the way.

They walked towards Vincent, edging towards the lake to get a better angle. Cloud saw her clearly now. A short girl, probably a first-year, he thought, with long dark hair twisted into a plait. She had a thin face and a tiny chin which made her look like a porcelain doll. As they got nearer, she hitched her bag over her shoulder and walked away towards a gaggle of students surrounding Professor Flitwick.

Vincent scowled when he saw them. This didn't perturb Aerith at all; she gave him a glowing smile and winked.

"Vincent, who was that?"

"Nobody."

"Come on," Aerith coaxed him. "You can tell me."

Cloud scratched his head and smiled at Vincent ruefully. He knew Aerith had a way of making people confide in her and Vincent was no exception.

"Her name is Lucrecia," said Vincent at last, with great reluctance.

"That's a pretty name."

Vincent's scowl deepened but he was saved the effort of having to respond, for at that moment Tifa ran up to them, panting, wild-eyed.

"What's wrong?" asked Cloud in alarm. Tifa's face was white; she looked frantic, horrified.

"Ginny," said Tifa. "Cloud, you've got to come!"

Puzzled, he followed her as she started running back up to the castle. Vincent and Aerith came with them too.

"We're not supposed to wander around the castle alone," Aerith puffed, glancing back at Professor Flitwick, who had disappeared into the centre of a crowd of students.

"Never mind that!" said Tifa. She led them into the second floor corridor where the message about the Chamber of Secrets had first appeared. "Look…"

For a moment, as Cloud glanced at the familiar blood-red writing, he didn't understand what she meant. Then he gasped. A new message had appeared.

_Her bones will lie in the Chamber forever._

"Whose bones?" he choked out. Next to him, Vincent was staring at the wall in stony silence. Aerith was trembling, her green eyes alight.

"It's Ginny," Tifa whispered. "I saw her…"

"Professor McGonagall!" said Aerith suddenly. Cloud turned as the stern teacher swept up to them. She drew herself up and frowned.

"What are you four doing here? You know you are expressly forbidden from wandering the corridors without a teacher present!"

"We're sorry, Professor," said Aerith, "but look…"

Professor McGonagall noticed the new writing on the wall. The blood slowly drained from her face.

"If only Dumbledore…" she muttered, but trailed off into silence.

Tifa spoke up. "I know who it is, Professor," she said, her voice trembling. "I know the girl who was taken into the Chamber of Secrets."

"Who?"

"Ginny Weasley."

Professor McGonagall clutched her chest with one hand. She looked haggard, with deep shadows beneath her eyes.

"I shall have to inform the staff at once," she murmured. "This is terrible… terrible."

"Professor," said Tifa timidly, "Professor, I think I-"

The teacher straightened up. "You four get back to your common rooms," she barked. "Now!"

The four of them hurried off. They climbed a staircase, the portraits frowning at them for being unaccompanied. Otherwise the corridors were silent and deserted.

"Tifa, what happened?" Cloud asked.

"I saw Ginny going into the second floor bathroom," said Tifa. "You know, the one with Moaning Myrtle."

Aerith nodded.

"She was by herself, so I went after her. And… and when I got into the bathroom, she was standing there in front of the sink, all rigid and… she was speaking Parseltongue."

"_What_?"

"And the sink started to move, but before it had opened properly, she turned around and saw me." Tifa sniffed and wiped her eyes. "S-she hissed and spat at me, and then she screamed, in English: _Mudblood!_ And behind her was a dark hole where the sink had been and there was something moving… I was frozen, but suddenly the fang on my neck burned, and I heard something hissing…"

"Fang, what fang?" Vincent interrupted.

Tifa drew her necklace up from the folds of her robes to show him.

"I bought that for Cloud."

"Sorry," said Cloud. "I thought Tifa would need it more."

Vincent stared at him and at first Cloud thought he might be angry but instead he just nodded. "You were right."

"But what happened then?" Aerith asked. They stopped on a sixth floor corridor, for this was the point they usually separated: Vincent, Tifa and Aerith heading for their common room while Cloud would go upstairs alone to Gryffindor Tower.

"I ran for it," Tifa said. "I ran straight out of the bathroom and out of the castle as fast as I could and I kept expecting to see the monster coming after me, but it never did."

"You were so lucky," Aerith breathed.

The two girls stared at each other. For a moment, Cloud thought they were going to start yelling at each other, or worse, refuse to speak to each other, but instead Aerith's eyes filled with tears. She flung her arms around Tifa.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Aerith wept. "You're my best friend, Tifa… I'm so glad, so glad you're all right…"

Tifa hugged Aerith back. "It's all right," she said. "And… I'm sorry. For all the stuff I said."

"I'm sorry too," said Aerith, though her words were barely discernable through her tears. "We shouldn't… we shouldn't have fallen out at a time like this. Friends are supposed to stick together, especially through the hardest times. I'm sorry, I didn't like Ginny, I should have-" She paused suddenly, her mouth open.

Tifa let go of her friend, frowning. "What is it?"

"Ginny," said Aerith. "She opened the Chamber of Secrets. She set the monster loose."

"But she's down there now," said Tifa. "The monster took her."

"Are you sure?" Vincent asked.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Tifa spluttered. "You saw the message. She's gone, vanished. The monster must have been controlling her somehow…"

"So the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets must be in the second-floor bathroom," said Vincent, frowning.

Cloud had been having trouble taking all this in. His head was spinning. But at Vincent's words, his mind cleared. Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. For all he knew, she might already be dead. But they knew where the entrance was. So…

"We have to go and rescue her!" he said.

Tifa nodded. "I want to save her too."

"So do I," said Aerith, wiping her eyes. Both of them looked determined.

They all stared at Vincent. "All right," he said grumpily. "This isn't the most stupid thing we've done, I suppose…"

They ran all the way back down to the second floor corridor. Cloud didn't hesitate, even though his limbs were trembling with fear. He knew that at any moment the monster might appear to kill them, but he raised his wand and barged straight into the girls' toilets.

The place was empty. Water dripped from somewhere. The cracked basins looked very dismal. Cloud lowered his wand, feeling rather foolish. Tifa, Aerith and Vincent entered the bathroom, all clutching their wands in their hands. It was strange to think that the monster of Slytherin, the terror of the school, chose a bathroom of all places for the entrance to its lair. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing – what on earth was wrong with him?

"Okay," said Cloud shakily, "where did you say the entrance was, Tifa?"

Tifa walked over to one of the sinks. "Here," she said. Her voice was steady, even though Cloud thought she must be terrified to come back here.

They all went over to examine the sink.

"You said the sink moved?" Aerith asked. "So there's a hole behind it?"

Vincent ran his hands around the back of the sink. "There should be a crack here or something," he muttered. "But I can't find one."

Cloud gripped the basin in both hands and tried pulling. The sink didn't budge. He let go, gasping for breath. "Okay, so it's not opening this way."

Aerith put her hands on her hips, frowning. "Maybe it only opens by magic." She raised her wand. "Stand back, I want to try something."

They did as she said. Aerith pointed her wand at the sink and said, "_Alohomora_!"

Nothing happened.

"That spell is for opening locks," said Vincent. "This isn't a door."

"I know." Aerith shrugged. "I just thought it was worth a try."

Cloud frowned, thinking. The entrance must be locked somehow. He tried to remember how Tifa had described it. He stared at the sink, as though if he looked at it hard enough it might open by the sheer force of his gaze alone. Then he noticed something. A tiny snake was etched on one of the taps.

"I get it!" he said. "Ginny was speaking Parseltongue, right? I bet that the only way to open the Chamber is to speak in snake-language."

There was a pause as this sunk in.

"You're probably right," said Vincent. "But that means that none of us can open it."

"We can't," said Cloud. "But there is someone who can…" The only Parselmouth he knew of in the school. It had to be him, didn't it? Somehow, Cloud felt like it was fated to be.

Aerith spoke the name. "Harry Potter."

**(A/N: I'll be slightly diverging from canon and attempting to fill in a couple of Rowling's plot holes at the same time. How did McGonagall know Ginny was the girl who had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets? It's not explained in the book, which is why I included it here. Also, if you know your CoS canon well enough, you'll realise that Harry and Ron don't act the way you'd expect after hearing this - at least, not straight away.**

**So, next chapter... The gang recruit Harry and Ron to help them, and someone unexpected gets pulled along for the ride too...)**


	10. He's Her Only Chance

**(A/N: This is the penultimate chapter. The finishing line is approaching...)**

"Should we go and tell him, then?" Tifa asked.

Cloud was about to reply in the affirmative when Aerith shook her head and shivered.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't like this. I realise now. It was never Ginny I hated. It was something else about her… something evil." She took a deep breath. Cloud, Vincent and Tifa all watched her in silence. Her green eyes shone; her gaze was clear yet distant. And when she next spoke, it was in a light, eerie voice that made the rest of them shiver. "If Harry Potter goes down there, he won't come out, not without help. If Harry Potter faces his nemesis for a third time, the next time his luck will run out. If Harry… if Harry…" She blinked and shook her head. "What was I saying?"

"You don't remember?" Cloud asked.

Tifa laughed nervously. "You scared us. You were talking about Harry – about him being in danger."

"She's right," said Vincent. "Going into the Chamber is dangerous. How about we be sensible for once and _go to a teacher_?"

Cloud nodded. "Let's do that first. The teachers need to know what we know."

"To Professor Lockhart's office then!" Aerith cried.

The others regarded her dubiously.

"What? He is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It's his area of expertise."

"All right then," Cloud sighed. With Dumbledore gone, he didn't know who else to turn to.

They made their way to Lockhart's office. Once again, the corridors were all deserted. Cloud had never seen the school so quiet during the day. He guessed that after Professor McGonagall had learned about Ginny, she had restricted the students' freedom to move around the school even more. Everybody was probably in their common rooms. At least that meant it would be easy to find Harry, if the time came, he thought. But Aerith's words made him shiver. Had he just heard her prophesy? He thought so. And what did she mean about facing his nemesis for a third time? There was only one person who could possibly be Harry's nemesis… but it didn't make sense, the Dark wizard was powerless, hiding somewhere… he had been defeated again only last year.

He blinked as his friends stopped. He almost hadn't noticed where his feet were taking him. They were right outside Lockhart's office. Aerith knocked on the door.

"Professor Lockhart?" she called. She knocked again and then pushed the door open.

Cloud's mouth fell open. Professor Lockhart was scurrying around his office, clearing his desk and packing his trunk full of clothes, waving his wand ineptly. He had never been in Lockhart's office before. The walls were all decorated with huge pictures of the vain teacher. He expected that normally they would be smiling Lockhart's toothy smile, but today they were all watching him anxiously, smoothing down their many-coloured robes and hair. The sheer multitude of Lockharts dazzled him – it seemed that the Professor hadn't yet had time to take any of them down.

"P-professor," said Aerith. "Are you going somewhere, sir?"

Lockhart stuffed a periwinkle blue robe into his trunk. His hair was ruffled and his customary grin had vanished. Instead, he looked slightly stressed.

"My dear young lady, I'm afraid now is not the time to be knocking on my door," he said. "I received an urgent call… must leave at once – now, if you don't mind, could you youngsters skedaddle back up to your common rooms?"

"You're leaving? But, sir, we have important information about the Chamber of Secrets…"

"Rubbish!" said Lockhart. "I've had it up to here with Chambers and monsters – there was nothing about that on the contract, I tell you!"

"But-"

Lockhart waved his hands impatiently. "Sorry, I'm busy – another time, perhaps."

"Another time?" Tifa screeched, stepping forward. "You do realise that a girl has been taken by the monster? Shouldn't we do something – fight it?"

"Very sorry about that, most unfortunate – but I very much doubt there's anything we can do… tragic business." Lockhart opened a drawer and started pulling out a great many pairs of shoes and stuffing them inside his trunk. "Are you still here?" he asked, peeping over the top of the trunk.

"Forget it," Cloud muttered, when Tifa opened her mouth to answer. Her face was red. He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her away. "It's no use."

"Coward," Tifa spat when they went back into the corridor. "Why won't anybody listen to us?"

"I think the teachers have given up already," said Aerith, looking upset.

"Well, we won't," said Cloud. "If there's any chance at all that Ginny is alive, we have to save her. I'll go to my common room right now and find Harry. He probably doesn't know it, but he's her only chance."

His mind made up, Cloud walked quickly back up to Gryffindor Tower, accompanied by his friends. He told them to go back to their own common room, but all of them refused. They intended to stick by him, and even though the situation was deadly serious, this thought comforted him immensely.

"We'll wait for you," said Aerith, as they came to a stop outside the Fat Lady's portrait. She squeezed his hand.

Cloud took a deep breath, then spoke the password and entered the common room. It was crowded and completely silent and it seemed as though every single Gryffindor there was staring at him. He blushed. A Gryffindor sitting near the entrance stood up and patted him on the back. He looked up. It was Zack.

"Cloud! I thought you'd gone missing. We were starting to get worried about you."

"You were?" Cloud looked around. He hadn't imagined that any of his fellow Gryffindors would miss him, or even notice that he was gone. But as soon as Zack stepped aside, Barret and Cid came forward. Cid shook his hand and Barret hugged him, briefly – that is, he threw an arm around Cloud, nearly squashing him, and then pulled away, his cheeks red with embarrassment. Cloud was shocked.

"Good to see you're all right, spiky," said Barret gruffly.

"I – thanks."

"It's terrible," said Zack in a low voice. "Did you hear about Ginny? And there's nothing I can say – I feel like an intruder, you know?" He glanced behind him and Cloud realised what he meant. Fred and George Weasley were sitting in two armchairs, their faces sullen and drawn. The twins were normally so cheerful – and so was Zack, their fellow mischief-maker. But there were no jokes in the Gryffindor common room now. It struck him for the first time just what a tragic blow this was to all the students – and especially to the Weasley family.

He swallowed. "Where's Harry? I want to talk to him."

"He's over there," said Cid, pointing.

Harry and Ron were sitting opposite each other by the window. Between them was a table, and on it was a chessboard with all the pieces assembled. But neither of them were playing. Ron was ashen-faced, staring past Harry, seemingly oblivious to everyone around him. Harry was twiddling his thumbs with a preoccupied air.

Cloud went over to them and he had to tap Harry on the shoulder before the boy even noticed him.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Harry," Cloud whispered, bending down so nobody else could hear. A dull murmur filled the common room now, like background buzzing in his ears. "I know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is."

Harry stared at him. "You do?"

"Yeah – listen-"

But Harry shook his head. "There's no need to tell me. We already know."

"You know? You already know?" Cloud looked at Ron and raised his voice so both of them could hear. "Ron – you too?"

"Yeah," said Ron, his voice hollow.

"Then what are you doing sitting around here?" Cloud asked. "She's your sister – your little sister – and you won't go and help her?"

"The teachers-" Harry started.

"Forget the teachers!" said Cloud. "Harry, you're the only one who can open the entrance. You have to go and help Ginny!"

"Me?" said Harry, his eyes wide. He looked puzzled. Cloud explained hastily.

Harry nodded when he had finished his story. "Slytherin's monster is a Basilisk, a huge snake. Only a Parselmouth can control it. And they're the only ones who can get to it too…"

"But Ginny can't speak Parseltongue!" said Ron. "There has to be a mistake."

"It doesn't matter," said Harry grimly. "Cloud's right. I'm the only one who can get to Ginny, so I have to go, now. I'll use the Invisibility Cloak."

"Wait, wait," said Ron. "Stop saying 'I'. She's my sister – I'm coming with you!"

"Me too," said Cloud firmly.

Harry looked at them both. His distracted expression had vanished. They all knew what they had to do. "All right."

They ran upstairs to fetch the Invisibility Cloak. Cloud had been under an Invisibility Cloak with another person before, but with three it was even harder. They had to walk very slowly back down to the common room, being careful not to trip each other up. Picking their way through the crowded common room was also difficult. In his imagination, Cloud heard the ticking of the seconds passing by… for every second they lost, Ginny might have been killed, terrible things might have happened to her…

They opened the portrait hole and crept out, hoping that the other Gryffindors wouldn't notice. Both Harry and Ron gave a start as they saw Vincent, Aerith and Tifa waiting outside. Cloud ducked out from under the Invisibility Cloak and rushed up to his friends. Tifa jumped.

"I didn't see you."

"You took your time," said Aerith. "Where's Harry?"

"Right here," said Harry, removing the Invisibility Cloak to reveal both him and Ron. "But what are all you doing here?"

"They're my friends," said Cloud. "You know Vincent – and this is Aerith – and this is Tifa."

"I'm a friend of Ginny's," said Tifa. "She's told me a lot about you. And now we're all going to rescue her, right?"

"All of us?" said Harry. "This is a Basilisk we're talking about. One look at it will kill you!"

"Then the more of us there are, the better chance we have of defeating it," said Aerith.

They were wasting time. Cloud knew it and Harry knew it. He nodded and they all ran down the corridor, wands in hand. A couple of portraits shouted after them, but once again the school was unusually quiet. But before they reached the second floor corridor, they came upon Lockhart, who was dragging his packed trunk out of his office. He paused, straightened up, wiped his brow, and then saw them.

"You!"

"Are you _leaving_?" Harry asked.

"Yes, yes, I am. Urgent call, you see – now would you children stop bothering me." Lockhart's tone was exasperated. He tried to lift up his trunk, but it was bulging and obviously very heavy. He let it fall back to the ground with a gasp.

"Just leave him, it's no use," said Cloud, but Harry had already opened his mouth.

"You're supposed to be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher! What about all that stuff you did in your books?"

"My dear boy," said Lockhart, frowning at Harry. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think _I'd_ done all those things."

"So you just took credit for the hard work that other people did?"

"I knew it," Vincent muttered.

Lockhart drew himself up, looking rather indignant for a man who had just confessed that he was a charlatan. "Oh no, it wasn't easy! I worked very hard to get where I am now. I had to find all the wizards and witches who performed heroic deeds, get them to tell me their stories, and then modify their memories so nobody knew I hadn't done it. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog." He drew out his wand from the folds of his robes. "And now, boys and girls, I'm afraid I'll have to modify your memories too. I can't have you telling the _Daily Prophet_ about this." He raised his wand. Cloud and the others raised theirs too, about to defend themselves. Cloud ran frantically through all the spells he knew in his mind but he couldn't think of any that would protect him against a Memory Charm.

Luckily, Harry was quicker than the rest of them. "_Expelliarmus_!" he yelled.

The wand flew out of Lockhart's hand. Vincent ran past him and picked it up. Harry, Ron and Cloud all pointed their wands at Lockhart, who whimpered and sat down on his trunk, holding up his hands protectively.

"You can come with us!" Harry snarled.

"I think he'll be more of a liability than a help," Vincent sneered, brandishing both his own wand and Lockhart's.

"Are you sure?" Cloud asked. "Can't we just knock him out?"

"Attack a teacher?" Aerith squeaked next to him. "Are you mad?"

But Harry stuck to his opinion stubbornly. "He can come with us – and we'll let him go into the Chamber first."

"Boys, boys, what good will it do?" Lockhart protested weakly, but he was forced to start moving as Harry jabbed his wand at his back.

**(Next chapter... Yes, it's into the Chamber of Secrets we go... But will everyone come out again unscathed?)**


	11. Odd Sort of Place This, Isn't it?

**(A/N: Here we are again - the last chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.)**

It was a strange group that walked into the girl's bathroom a few minutes later. Ron and Vincent both kept their wands trained on Lockhart. Tifa and Aerith huddled together behind them, whispering to each other. The ghost of a girl watched them all from over a cubicle as Cloud stepped forward to show Harry the sink.

"There, you see," he said, pointing at the tiny snake on the tap.

Harry nodded. "So… should I just tell it to open?"

"Yeah."

They all waited as Harry stared very hard at the sink and spoke in a rather shaky voice. "Open!"

Cloud shook his head. "No, that was in English. You need to speak in Parseltongue."

"How can I when I don't even know when I'm speaking it?"

Cloud licked his lips nervously. He hadn't known that, but he trusted Harry to succeed anyway.

"I dunno," Ron offered, "but what about those other times you spoke Parseltongue? Can you remember how you did it then?"

Harry looked thoughtful. "I was talking to a snake both times…" Suddenly he moved his head, bobbing it up and down, his eyes fixed on the etching of the snake. And when he spoke this time, it was in a low hiss. It was a horrible sound to hear from another human being.

At once the sink reacted; it moved and sank back into the wall, revealing the dark opening of a pipe. Lockhart whimpered again as Vincent and Ron shoved him forwards.

"Off you go," said Harry.

"Boys, please…" His voice turned into a yell as they pushed him in. His frightened cries echoed all the way down, but then there was a soft thump and the yelling stopped.

"Are you all right?" Harry called.

They heard a vague annoyed splutter.

"He's alive," said Harry. "Let's go."

Cloud turned to the two girls. "Aerith, Tifa, you wait here."

Aerith put her hands on her hips. "No. We've come this far already. We're all going and that's final."

He sighed. His feelings were horribly conflicted. On the one hand, it felt comforting to have all his friends there with him, facing the danger together. But on the other, he was all too aware that they might not all survive this. He had promised to protect Tifa and he didn't want Aerith to get hurt either. But as he looked at the pair of them, their arms linked and their faces set in identical expressions, he knew the decision had already been made.

A pearly white ghost floated up behind the two girls. She wore thick glasses and a mournful expression.

"You're going to face the monster?" she asked.

Tifa and Aerith jumped. Aerith looked behind her and sighed with relief. "It's only Moaning Myrtle."

"Yeah, we are," Harry answered.

Myrtle twirled her fingers shyly. "If you don't make it, you can always come and live with me in my toilet," she offered.

Harry's cheeks turned faintly pink.

"Er, that's really nice of you, Myrtle. Thanks." He avoided looking at the others and cleared his throat. "So… this is it."

They nodded and one by one they jumped into the pipe. Cloud followed Vincent. He crawled in, not without a great deal of trepidation, but before his fear could overwhelm him and make him climb out again, he lost his grip and yelled as he slid down the pipe. It was so dark – all he could sense was the movement and the rough surface of the pipe beneath him. He grazed his elbow as he turned a corner and after that he tucked his arms in. The journey was over surprisingly fast – he toppled out into a cave.

Vincent had already stood up and lit his wand so they could see where they were. As Cloud pulled himself to his feet, making sure his own wand was still gripped in his hand, Aerith tumbled into the cave as well. Soon they were all as ready as they could be. The sound of their breathing seemed to increase threefold in the echoing silence of the cave.

"I think we must be under the lake," said Aerith, looking up at the damp, dripping ceiling.

"Well," said Harry unsteadily, "we have to keep moving."

So they picked their way through the cave, using their wands to light the way. Cloud noticed that Ron hadn't cast a spell – instead, he kept his wand pointed at Lockhart. Ron's wand was wrapped clumsily with Spellotape. That puzzled Cloud for a moment until he remembered how Ron had broken it right at the start of term. It had never worked properly since.

"What's that?" said Tifa.

Her wand light had reflected off something scaly. They moved closer and Cloud stifled a cry as he realised that the something was a discarded snake skin. It shone a vivid green and it made him ill to think of the thing that had shed it.

"It's _huge_," said Ron. "Imagine the size of that thing…"

The sight did nothing for their spirits. Indeed, Cloud felt sick with fear, and it was only the presence of his companions that spurred him to go on. Lockhart, however, seemed to have lost all of his courage, if he had ever possessed any. He stopped and refused to move. His teeth chattered.

"Come on," Ron growled, holding up his wand threateningly.

"My dear boy," Lockhart stuttered, "really… is there any need?" He stretched out his arms towards Ron imploringly, and then, without warning, he shoved Ron to the ground. Ron's wand flew out of his hand and Lockhart picked it up triumphantly.

"You sneaky –" Vincent started, raising his own wand. But none of them had time to react before Lockhart twirled the wand, an unpleasant smile on his face.

"_Obliviate_!" he cried.

A blast shook the cave; Cloud's ears rang and he fell; dizzying pain shot through his head. The wand lights all flickered out; the last impression he had was of tumbling rocks, dark gritty dust and the screams of his companions. Everything went dark. He sat up, wincing, and rubbed the back of his head. The blast had knocked him against a rock – but what had happened?

"_Lumos_," Cloud muttered. The narrow beam of light fell on Tifa, who was sitting on the floor looking dazed.

Someone else lit their wand. It was Vincent. Both of them looked around.

"Are we all here?" Cloud asked.

"Where's Harry?"

Cloud's stomach dropped. Harry wasn't there.

"Ron?" said a frantic voice. The voice was Harry's and Cloud suddenly realised what had happened. Part of the ceiling had collapsed, leaving Harry alone on one side and everyone else on the other.

"We're here," Ron croaked. He hadn't moved; he was clutching his leg and appeared to be in some pain. "We're all okay."

Cloud and Vincent moved closer to the barrier of rocks separating them, the better to hear Harry's reply.

"I'm going on alone," said Harry. "You all just try to shift some of these rocks, okay? I'll be back soon."

"No!" said Cloud. "Wait for us; we'll get through, it won't take long."

"I'm going on," said Harry firmly. "Just make sure you clear a way back for me. See you."

They heard receding footsteps. He had gone.

"I can't believe this," whispered Aerith. She was crouching next to Ron and freed his leg which had been trapped by debris. "Can you get up, Ron?"

"Yeah," said Ron, though his face was creased with pain.

Meanwhile, Tifa had walked over to inspect Lockhart. Their teacher was lying on the hard floor, unconscious. She picked up Ron's wand and examined it.

"What happened?" she asked.

"My wand," Ron muttered. "It backfired."

Tifa handed the wand to him. "It looks broken," she said. "Are you going to get a new one?"

Ron took his wand and turned away, muttering something incomprehensible.

"Well," said Cloud, "I suppose we'd better make a start moving these rocks…"

It was hard, nerve-wracking work. None of them knew enough magic to blast the rocks away and there was also the fear that trying to use magic might cause more of the cave to collapse. So they picked away the rocks one by one, as carefully as possible and very soon their faces were sweaty and their hands begrimed by dirt. Cloud noticed that Ron seemed to be having more difficulty than the others; he was limping.

"Is your leg hurt?" he asked.

Ron shook his head. "It's nothing."

"I can heal it for you," Cloud offered. He drew out his materia from the folds of his robes. It shone green in the darkness. Ron stared at it.

"You've still got that glowing marble?"

"Materia," Cloud corrected. And before Ron could protest, he cast the spell, feeling the magic well up from the stone and diffuse out of his body. A pale light danced along Ron's leg. Ron squinted as the light faded. He tapped his foot experimentally.

"It worked." He sounded surprised.

"Of course it worked," Cloud snapped. Why did they never expect anything he did to succeed?

"All right, all right," said Ron. "Thanks."

Time passed. The silence was unbroken except for their ragged breaths and the shifting of the rocks. It seemed like nobody wanted to voice what they were really thinking. Would Harry survive? Would any of them make it?

"He's coming to," Tifa called.

Everyone raised their wands and watched as Gilderoy Lockhart stirred, his eyes blinking. He yawned and stretched and only then seemed to notice where they were.

"It's a bit dark in here, isn't it?" he said.

This flummoxed Cloud. Nobody answered him. Then Aerith stepped forward hesitantly.

"Professor Lockhart?"

Lockhart scratched his head and looked behind him. "Who?"

"Oh," Aerith breathed. "He tried to cast a Memory Charm on us, remember? But…"

Cloud caught a flicker of movement at the corner of his eye. He interrupted Aerith with a shout. "What's that?"

They all looked up. A warm light glittered on the ceiling for a second. Something bright and gleaming swooped down – a bird with brilliant fire-red and golden plumage. Cloud watched open-mouthed as Harry, Ginny and the phoenix tumbled down together. The phoenix perched on Harry's shoulder and rubbed its head against his cheek. Harry smiled to see them all gawping.

"H-how did that bird get here?" Ron asked.

Tifa ran up to Ginny and hugged her. Everyone else was too astonished to move. Harry noticed Lockhart, who was standing and looking around with a vague, slack expression.

"What's up with him?" he asked.

"His Memory Charm backfired," said Aerith. "I'm not sure he even knows who he is."

Lockhart smiled at Harry. "Odd sort of place this, isn't it? Do you all live here?"

The phoenix fluttered into the air and beckoned them.

"Come on," said Harry. "I think Fawkes wants us to follow him."

"But what happened?" Cloud asked.

"I'll explain later."

**xxxxx**

A few minutes later they were all flying up the pipe, with Harry gripping Fawkes' tail feathers and the rest of them holding on to him in a long line. Cloud's stomach swooped as they shot up; he laughed in delight. Phoenixes were the most magical of birds but even so he could hardly believe that Fawkes was able to carry such a heavy load. And yet they flew up as if gravity didn't even exist.

Lockhart seemed impressed as well. "Amazing! Amazing!" he cried. "This is just like magic!"

**xxxxx**

Professor McGonagall could never have looked more astonished when Harry, Ron, Cloud, Vincent, Aerith, Tifa, a dazed Professor Lockhart and an alive and well Ginny Weasley all trooped into her office. The Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore was there too. He raised his eyebrows and smiled as each of them came in. Two red-headed people who could only have been Ron and Ginny's parents gasped at the sight of their daughter. Ginny's mother enveloped her in a crushing embrace. She had tears in her eyes.

Cloud smiled. It was great to see the family reunited. But at the same time he couldn't help feeling a little pang in his heart. He looked at Tifa. She too was watching the family with a happy, yet forlorn expression. She noticed his gaze and gave him a wistful smile. Cloud blushed. He thought of his mother, by herself at home. And Tifa's father, the stubborn old man who still refused to let Cloud anywhere near his daughter. They hadn't talked about it recently. Maybe he should ask her… But first he wanted to know exactly what had happened.

So he listened avidly as Harry told Dumbledore and the others his story. It turned out Ginny had been possessed by none other than Lord Voldemort – or at least, something like Lord Voldemort – some kind of spirit in a diary. With Fawkes' help, Harry had killed the Basilisk and stabbed the diary with one of its fangs, thereby destroying the spirit within.

Tifa gasped when she heard about the diary. She leaned over to Cloud and whispered in his ear.

"I saw her with that diary… I even encouraged her to write in it, to pour out her feelings if it'd make her feel better. Oh, Cloud, what a stupid thing to do! Why didn't I realise?"

Cloud squeezed her arm. "None of us realised. It's not your fault, Tifa. Everything worked out fine in the end."

**xxxxx**

And so it did. Dumbledore awarded them all one hundred points to their respective Houses, plus awards for Special Services to the School, which made them all puff up with pride. There was something to tell his mother! The Petrified victims were all cured, so Harry, Ron and Hermione were reunited. Dumbledore also announced that all the exams were being cancelled as a school treat, and only Hermione managed to be unhappy about that. At the end of term feast, they were told that Lockhart was leaving, in order to get his memory back, which prompted a large number of cheers – particularly from the Ravenclaw table, Cloud was amused to notice.

The end of the year came and Cloud, Vincent, Tifa and Aerith were about to part. The platform was crowded with students yelling their goodbyes as usual. The Hogwarts train looked fine and scarlet on a hot, bright summer's day. They seemed so far away from the underground horrors of the Chamber of Secrets.

"Hey, Cloud," said Aerith. "Let's have one final picture, of all of us."

"Good idea!" said Tifa. "You still have your camera, don't you?"

"Yeah." Cloud opened his trunk and scrabbled about for it. He found the camera and checked it – there were still a few shots left. Meanwhile, Aerith tapped another girl on the shoulder.

"Hey, Lisa, can you do us a favour and take a photo of us?"

"Okay," said Lisa, putting down her trunk.

Cloud gave her the camera and went to stand with Vincent, Tifa and Aerith. They all put their arms around each other, Tifa and Aerith in the middle, with her cat twisting in and out of their legs.

"Smile!"

The camera flashed. Lisa gave it back to Cloud, who thanked her.

"There we are," said Aerith. "Proof that we all survived. And we'll be friends forever, right?"

"Right," said Tifa.

"See you next year!" Aerith hugged her friend.

Tifa smiled but then she noticed her father at the other end of the platform. He started towards her. She disengaged herself from Aerith and whispered in Cloud's ear urgently.

"Cloud, write to me this summer, won't you? I can't – ah – Moggy!" The cat jumped up and squirmed in her arms. It hissed at Cloud. He thought the cat must have channelled Tifa's father's spirit. Great.

"See you!" Tifa gabbled.

She hurried off to meet her disapproving father. Vincent nodded at them and strode off to meet his family. Now only Cloud and Aerith were left, with their heavy trunks. Their two owls were competing to see which could make the loudest screeches. Aerith leaned closer to him so he could hear her over the racket.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, "there's one more thing I would have liked to have asked Harry about our adventure."

"What's that?"

"How on earth does he know Moaning Myrtle? She haunts the girls' toilets and I don't think she ever comes out."

Cloud decided he really didn't want to know the answer to that one.

**(A/N: The end. :) If you've read all this story, then please do take an extra minute or two to drop me a review and offer your opinion. I really do appreciate it. If you're hoping for another sequel, well, I don't really have any inspiration for it at the moment. I hope these two stories can stand alone regardless. Thanks for reading!)**


End file.
